Broken Wings
by Destiny Girl 15
Summary: What if Naruto hadn't been completely friendless growing up? What if he befriended a girl as special and deadly as he is... Naruto&OC Alternate Universe Plz review!
1. Forever Promises

**_Yay! My first Naruto fic!:D I've put a lot of thought into this and I hope everyone likes it! I just love angels so this fic is going to be about them with a Naruto twist to things!_**

**Summary: **What if Naruto hadn't been completely friendless growing up? What if he befriended a girl who was as special as he is... Naruto&OC AU **_  
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_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Naruto or any of its characters! They all belong to Masashi Kishimoto!

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**Prologue**

Long, long ago in ancient times . . . there were beings beyond that of mankind. Mystical and powerful beings . . .

Angels.

With powers of divine healing, strength, agility, minds, and beauty. Their main attributes were their majestic white wings that protruded from their backs. It enabled them to do something that was impossible to normal humans. Fly. To rule the skies above. The angels were kind, gentle, and loved all things. They surrounded themselves with plants and animals, the angels lived in complete harmony with one another, within the light.

But where there is light, there is also darkness. And every living thing has an enemy. Even the angels.

That enemy was demons. They resided in darkness, hating all and consuming anything they could find. They were malicious creatures, brought forth from hatred and anger. And the one thing they loved to devour was _light._ And wanted nothing more but to see the mighty angels fall in darkness.

Humans began interacting with the angels, and since the angels were so kind, they welcomed them in with open arms.

But some angels grew curious of their world and ventured out, only to find a world of greed and power-hungry individuals. It affected their pure hearts and they could not fight against it. And once an angel falls into the darkness of the world, they become _fallen._ They lose their gift of light, and are entered into an evil darkness. Their wings of white turn to wings of black and their minds are no longer loving to others as they had been.

Viewing this, the demons preyed instantly on the fallen ones, warping their minds further into their evil.

The angels also housed prophets, and one fateful day one angel had a vision of their grave demise. Their race would be completely destroyed, save for two. Two babies would be born in the midst of war, both bearing the rest of the great angels' powers. One would be of light, and one of darkness. And both would be the purest of all their kind, the most powerful, and would be the only ones able enough to _combine_ both light and darkness—the two most indestructible elements that make up the very fabric of existence itself. The two fated infants would then be carried away by their angel mothers and be sealed away for protection in two separate lands. There, they would be awakened when someone unlocked their sealing when the time came, and then both angels would meet each other when their older and have fought against their own personal demons. Then, they would realize their full potential.

Working together, the fallen ones and demons stormed the angel's sanctuary and a war began. The angels fought back using their abilities, and numbers began distinctly decreasing. While everything was taking place, so was the prophecy. The rebellion of the fallen ones hurt the angels deeply and they quickly began eliminating the demons, the true source of it all.

Soon, the once glorious angel race had been wiped off the face of the Earth. Their weren't many demons left. Save a few, and the Tailed Beasts that quickly went into hiding to heal their wounds.

All that was left was a small number of the fallen ones — whose wings had been cut cleanly off when the angels were destroyed.

But deep down in different parts of the earth lived the last two angels.

The last two, to save a fallen race . . . A fallen world.

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_**Ch. 1: Forever Promises**_

**Running. **Always running.

"You little freak! Don't show your face around here again!" Angry voices shouted at her, but she kept running. Head down, pale skin shimmering in the moonlight while long, straight snow white hair whipped behind her.

Something sharp and hard hit her arms and legs and she realized that the angry people behind were throwing rocks at her since they couldn't catch up with her fast, inhuman pace for a child.

She gasped, though it was the same treatment she always got. Always. Especially when she went into a part of the village where they hated her. She didn't know what she did to them, to deserve this kind of torture. It's been like this ever since she can remember.

She turned around after getting hit so many times, but then a rock sharply hit her head, causing her to wince and lose balance. She felt herself hit the ground below with a hard thud, the rock having a more impact than she thought as a small trickle of blood went down her nose from her forehead.

Her mist gray eyes widened in fear as more rocks were coming at her defenseless form on the ground.

Suddenly, a flash of yellow blocked her view of the oncoming rocks. What she saw next, was something she had never seen before in her short-lived life.

There was a young boy in front of her, looking to be the same age as her. And he . . . took the blow for her. Each rock hit him square on but he didn't back down, his rigid posture in an unfamiliar way to the little girl . . . almost . . . _protective_ like.

And that's when everything went black.

* * *

Slowly, a set of mist gray eyes opened.

She sat swiftly up and looked around her, barely even noticing that her wounds were now bandaged up.

"So you're finally awake!" She heard a bright and cheerful voice say beside her and her eyes locked with a pair of bright blue eyes that matched his tone of voice. Spiky blond hair stood dominant against the tanned skin of the boy. She also noticed small whisker-like markings adorning his cheeks. He wore a black t-shirt with a red swirl on the front and gray knee-length shorts. His wide grin stunned the girl for a moment before she quickly composed herself.

"Who are you?" she asked in a soft whisper, though a high soprano voice was evident within the girl.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I'm the one who saved you before, remember?" he said in a loud voice that made her spirits lift up slightly. "So who are you?"

She was shocked for a moment — no one has ever asked for her name before . . . everyone just sort of . . . knew. Either Naruto didn't notice her hesitation in shock, or was just waiting for her to recover, he didn't interrupt. "I'm Hikari . . . Hikari Kyoko."

His blue eyes were wide with excitement. "Hikari, huh? That's a nice name!"

"Oh, uh, thank you . . ." she murmured, not use to attention like this so her voice remained low. ". . . And thank you . . . for before."

"Ah, it was nothin'!" he said with a cheeky grin, turning around as he was half-way to his kitchen. "So are you hungry, Hikari?" he asked her in a friendly manner and Hikari observed the messy apartment room. It was similar to hers, though hers was much neater.

"Uh . . . sure?" It came out like a question, solid proof that she wasn't use to contact with people.

But Naruto paid it no mind. "Alright! I hope you like ramen because that's all I've got!" he said with an embarrassed blush creeping to his face as he scratched the back of his head.

"That's fine," she told him honestly. _Anything is better than nothing . . ._ she thought to herself and Naruto got busy making the ramen.

Hikari carefully got out of the bed that must have been his. But this confused her. Why would he let her sleep on his bed? Why was he being open and even _nice_ to her? It just didn't make any sense . . .

Hikari strolled over and sat at a brown round table and waited silently until the food was done.

"One bowl of instant ramen!" Naruto put a steaming instant cup of ramen in front of Hikari and he sat across from her with his.

"Naruto . . . what is ramen?" Hikari couldn't help but question as she observed the noodles in liquid.

Naruto almost choked on his big bite and Hikari grew concerned until he abruptly swallowed the mouthful and looked at her with big eyes.

"WHAT? YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT RAMEN IS?" he shouted, which made Hikari cringe away as she expected to be hit right there but it never came.

Naruto noticed this and calmed his voice but went into an elaborate explanation of what the food, ramen, was.

At then end of it, Hikari gave a half-smile and began eating her ramen. Once done, Naruto deposited the two empty paper bowls into the trash can.

When Hikari was about to thank him for the food, Naruto interrupted her by saying, "Wow! So you heal fast like me, huh? So do you wanna go to the park and play?"

She was astounded at his offer, his comment causing her to look at her bandages — though she knew that her wounds were already healed.

"Here. I'll go ahead and remove these for ya," he said, surprising Hikari once again as she saw how close he was to her. She watched him unwrap all of the bandages — each one revealing what she knew already; healed-over wounds. "Wow, you heal even _faster_ than I do!" he said, thoroughly impressed.

"Uh, yes," she said, stunned by his kind blue eyes.

He let out a small laugh and said, "Well, let's go to the park!"

The two misunderstood children walked to the nearby park, all the while Hikari studied Naruto as if waiting for him to turn around and have the same cold eyes as everyone else and tell her to go away.

They walked over to the swings and sat beside each other on two middle ones. Naruto began swinging high up while Hikari barely moved on hers. She gazed at him as he laughed childishly.

It was then, that her questions boiled to the surface.

"Hey, Naruto . . ." she looked down, hiding her face with her thick snow white hair.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked with a laugh, looking back at her as he was up in the air briefly.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked him, and his face became serious as he slowed to a stop, coming up beside her in his swing.

"What are ya talking about, Hikari? Why wouldn't I be?" he tried teasing, a big smile on his face, but she didn't look up.

"No one else is . . ." she murmured and Naruto looked down at the dirt below.

"What do you mean?"

She took a deep breath, preparing for the worst, but she had to know.

"They all . . . the villagers treat me like I'm a bad person." Images from her memories came to her. Images of being chased away from town, of being hit by people. "They say I'm a freak, a monster . . . but I don't know why. I know nothing of my parents, I'm all alone . . ." And that's when she began to cry, the tears just unleashed themselves and she couldn't hold them back.

"You're not alone Hikari."  
Hikari looked up as soon as the words were spoken from the boy beside her.

"W-What?" she let out in a soft whisper, tears streaming down her porcelain face.

"I helped you last night because you shouldn't have been treated like that. Not like how they all treat me," Naruto said in a low, serious voice and Hikari's eyes grew wide. "_We're the same._ Everything you just said — is what happens to me everyday, and I'm always alone . . ." he spoke and then looked up at Hikari with a smile, his blue eyes closed. "We have a lot in common!"

Hikari sat there with her mouth open and her tears slowly stopped. She couldn't believe it. There was someone else like her.

_We're the same._

A beaming smile, her first, _true_ smile since she was born graced her face. Her gray eyes closing as well as her and Naruto simply smiled in this moment of time. This moment where two misunderstood children found each other.

Naruto then held out his hand to her and she looked at it with questioning eyes.

"Hikari . . . can you be my friend? I promise I'll protect you from ever getting hurt like you have been, forever." He said in an earnest voice, smiling as his blue eyes shone in the morning sun that was just rising.

Hikari's remaining tears washed away as she smiled, her gray eyes shimmering in the morning light. "Thank you, Naruto. I promise to always be there for you, to always be your friend."

And then she joined her hand with his, the two children finally finding someone who understood them, someone they could count on forever . . .

Each other.

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**_Plz review and I'll have the next chappie up soon!_**


	2. Friendships Begin!

**_Thanks for reviewing!:D TIPS: Hikari means Light in Japanese, and Kyoko means Mirror in Japanese. I'm sure you've already figured out why I used Hikari, later on you'll find out why I used Kyoko as her last name. Also, I'm going by the anime here, so that's why I use Leaf Village instead of Konoha. Hope you enjoy this!_**

**_~ Serenna_**

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_**Ch. 2: Friendships Begin!**_

**Hikari and Naruto **grew up with each other, both finding out that their apartments weren't too far away from each other — they were practically neighbors! Both always played at the park, swinging, sliding down slides, and whatever else the park had to offer. The quiet little girl that Naruto had met was blossoming, becoming a fun girl who laughed a lot and smiled almost as much as he did, while still keeping her kind and pure spirit.

At the age of seven, both eagerly signed up for the Ninja Academy, ready for classes and hopefully make new friends who didn't misjudge them.

Hikari was currently putting on her black ninja sandals that went with the rest of her outfit — a black hoodie with white pants. It was simple, comfortable, and loose. Plus, it's not like she has much money to afford anything "fashionable" as most girls her age wore.

Naruto knocked on Hikari's apartment room door, both of them had already planned the day before that they would walk together to the academy. Since they only had each other and all . . .

Hikari opened the door to see a smiling Naruto — he changed his outfit since they're a year older and attending the academy now. He now wore a white t-shirt with his symbol on the front and the same knee-length shorts, only they were now navy blue along with his ninja sandals. His spiky blond hair was just as wild as always.

"Mornin' Hikari! Ready to start the day?" he said excitingly and she smiled.

"Yep! I'm all set, let's head to the academy!" she said, just as eager as her best friend. They've dreamed about this since they found out about it a few months ago.

So they ran there — far too eager and excited to walk.

When they came through the entrance and into the school yard, some kids and parents were already waiting. Upon their entrance, two adults who had been standing near the entrance turned to see who arrived. When they realized who the two children were, their gazes immediately turned into glares.

Hikari simply looked away out of dismay, she tended to go to her old way when people glared at her, far too soft-hearted and forgiving to do anything. But Naruto glared right back at the haughty strangers and even stuck his tongue out childishly.

"C'mon Hikari, let's go over _here_." Naruto growled in his raspy tone, softly taking Hikari's hand in his (something they always do when there were people like _them_ around) and led them toward the group of children their age with the parents standing in the back.

Naruto let go of Hikari's hand once they were in the midst of children, though most of them saw. Iruka Umino was one of the few who saw, along with the Hokage, and they both smiled despite themselves.

Hikari looked around her timidly, she wasn't use to talking with other children her age besides Naruto. Suddenly, both Naruto and Hikari heard munching coming from beside them and they looked down to see a chubby boy sitting down with a big bag of potato chips in his lap, he was eating them in delight.

"Jeez, are you really eating again?" Came a lazy voice belonging to Shikamaru Nara, he was standing beside his friend who was munching out.

"Uhmmmm-hmmmmm . . ." Said the chubby boy with spiky red-brown hair who was Choji Akimichi, he was far too preoccupied with eating.

"Man, what a drag . . ." Said the lazy boy with dark hair pulled up in a spiky ponytail, scratching his head.

Hikari smiled, suddenly her timidness was gone and was replaced with her usual kindness and the confidence she's developed with the help of Naruto. She then crouched down beside Choji, her face friendly and kind.

"What flavor are you eating?" she asked, Naruto gazed at her with wonder at her open friendliness that she rarely showed to anyone besides him. Shikamaru gazed in surprise that a _girl_ was actually talking to his friend voluntarily . . . most people just ignored him.

"Barbecue," Choji said in between munches, not even noticing that it was a girl talking to him and not his best friend beside him.

"Really? That's my favorite flavor! Can I have a chip?" Hikari asked him, eyes alight.

"Huh?" Choji questioned, realizing that it was a girl's voice talking to him and he looked up, curiosity stopping his munching down. He then saw the most prettiest girl he'd ever seen from up this close. With her long snow white hair, mist gray eyes, and porcelain white skin, she looked just like an angel! Especially with the sunlight dazzling her appearance even more. Choji found himself at a loss for words, just staring at her with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

Hikari remained oblivious, Naruto snickered because he knew the bizarre effects Hikari unknowingly had on people. It was like a strange glow emanated from around her, a dazzling _light_, and Shikamaru seemed to have the same effect as Choji though he was more discreet, his eyes only being slightly wider.

Choji visibly gulped before plastering a huge smile on his face. "Sure!" he said, offering her a chip that she began to eat.

Naruto smiled, pleased that these kids seemed to not be scared of him and Hikari like the rest and he bent down. "Hey, can I have a chip too?"

"Get your own!" Choji snapped with anime angry circle eyes as he snappily crunched down on a chip.

"But you just gave _her_ one Mister Snappy," Naruto muttered, his eyes narrowed, and Shikamaru smiled.

"Don't mind him, Choji rarely ever shares. By the way, I'm Shikamaru."

Hikari looked up at them with bright eyes. "Hikari," she introduced, standing up.

"And I'm Choji," he said while also standing up, still munching.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto said proudly and Shikamaru rubbed his ear.

"Are you always this loud?" he asked in an annoyed tone.

Suddenly there was a _bark! _and they looked in time to see a small white puppy run up and hop straight into Hikari's surprised arms.

"Akamaru!" Came a young boy's voice as a brown-haired boy with canine-like features ran up to the small group.

The puppy, who Hikari summarized as being "Akamaru," barked in acknowledgment of his master but cuddled up close to Hikari and she smiled and slowly pet the sweet pup.

The boy, Kiba Inuzuka, looked up and became momentarily stunned by the girl before regaining his composure.

_And here I thought dog boy here was about to start drooling, jeez!_ Naruto thought, his eye twitching in anger.

"Sorry about that, Akamaru just sniffed the air and suddenly took off — as happy as can be!" Kiba said lightly with a smile, scratching the back of his head in an embarrassed manner.

Hikari smiled. "It's okay, he's a good pup, aren't you?" she cooed to the pup, scratching his ear and he barked in agreement.

Kiba smiled. "Thanks, and I'm Kiba!" he said, pointing to himself with his thumb and a toothy grin on his tanned face. Akamaru barked and then hopped into Kiba's arms.

"I'm Hikari," she said, smiling sweetly.

"Naruto!" he yelled, standing beside Hikari.

"Shikamaru," He gave a half-wave, his expression bored.

"Choji," he mumbled in between munches.

"Alright! It's time to begin!" Iruka shouted to everyone and they all looked up to the front. Everyone was grouped into two separate groups, the adults aligned in rows in the back while the children were in the front, all of them in orderly rows as well.

Parent-less, Naruto and Hikari were at the very end. The Third Hokage stepped up, gathering everyone's attention.

"I welcome you all to the Leaf Village's Ninja Academy! May these new tiny buds grow and blossom into fine shinobi," The old man began, and everyone listened intently to his speech before Iruka called all of the children in. They all filed into the room, Naruto snagging two seats in the back of the classroom for him and Hikari.

"Alright, well first I want everyone to come up and introduce themselves to your classmates," Iruka started, ignoring the few groans that sounded. "For instance, my name is Iruka Umino, and I'm pleased to be your instructor." He gave them a smile.

One-by-one students walked to the front and introduced themselves. Naruto and Hikari watched with smiles as Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba all introduced themselves. Next came a boy wearing darkened glasses and a tall hood which concealed half his face, his name was Shino Aburame. Then a pink-haired girl went up, a bit timidly like how Hikari tended to be, and her name was Sakura Haruno. After her was a dark headed boy who introduced himself as Sasuke Uchiha. Then there was a girl with light blond hair by the name of Ino Yamanaka and then a very shy and petite girl who was Hinata Hyuga.

More students went up and introduced themselves before it was finally Hikari's turn. She gulped and instinctively looked over at Naruto for back-up.

He gave her his beaming grin that always managed to calm her nerves."You'll do great," he whispered encouragingly, and she became determined and nodded.

"Next," Iruka called, and Hikari came to stand in the front.

Her determination melted away as soon as she faced the _entire_ class, and stage fright took over as her more timid side began to show. All of the words she was just about to say had left her mind as if someone purposefully stole them away . . .

Suddenly, Akamaru barked as if encouraging her, and Hikari came out of her shyness as if in response to the kind pup.

She shot them all a beaming smile.

"Hello, my name is Hikari Kyoko," she said in a pure and angelic voice, holding everyone's attention with her vivid mist gray eyes.

Iruka appeared shocked, silently thinking to himself, _so she's the village's . . ._

"Alright," he cleared his voice, making everyone jump since it had gotten so quiet. "You can take your seat, Hikari." He told her sweetly with a smile, which she returned and quickly ran up to her seat just as Iruka called for the next student.

Naruto ran down so fast that he lost his footing on a step and tripped before landing roughly on his butt right in front of Iruka.

The majority of the kids laughed while Hikari put a hand over her heart in a concerned habit for her friend, preparing to rush down there and help him. Then, Naruto got up with a huge grin on his face as he rubbed the back of his head in an embarrassed habit. He was actually slightly pleased at making everyone laugh and with his blue eyes ever bright, he punched the air in front of him.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! Don't you guys forget it!" he said enthusiastically, shocking Iruka by his boldness.

With a few remarks from some kids, Naruto was told to go to his seat. Iruka saw how he sat right beside Hikari and began chatting away excitingly, Hikari throwing in words with a huge smile on her face. _So, they're both here . . . and seem to be fairly close . . . I better tell Lord Hokage about this later._ Iruka thought to himself with a began the lesson and both Naruto and Hikari listened intently since this was a new experience for the two orphans. It was mainly telling of the basics of what a ninja was all about, and that they were enrolling to become the future generation of shinobi.

Once their "ear had been talked off" as Naruto said, they were dismissed to hang out in the school yard. Getting to know one another better and having contact with people your age, especially if they were to be your future teammates, was ideal for a ninja — though most kids didn't really listen to Iruka-sensei on that part.

Naruto and Hikari entered the school yard where all of the other kids were and began looking around at all of the children who were running around and playing — not running away from _them_ with fear in their eyes that the two still didn't understand. Hikari had been tempted to ask Iruka-sensei about it earlier since he seemed to be the only adult who had been kind to her, but she chickened out in the end, not wanting to ruin anything for her and Naruto — so she kept quiet.

The pair were soon joined by familiar faces — Kiba and Akamaru.

"Hey, that was quite an unexpected entrance there clumsy," Kiba teased at Naruto who instantly became angry at his earlier humiliation.

"Why you! Well at least _I _didn't bring some snot-nosed puppy to school!" Naruto shot back and soon, Kiba and Naruto were head-to-head in insults while Hikari sweat-dropped and left the two alone since she wouldn't be able to calm the two hot-heads down for some time.

She stepped away and began looking around, noticing Shikamaru laying down in the grass, staring up at the clouds with Choji beside him eating a bag of potato chips. She smiled, and continued looking around for anyone to possibly talk to. She then spotted the Shino boy standing off to himself — or were the other kids . . . _avoiding_ him?

She shrugged, smile still on her face, and walked toward him.

Shino was well aware of the fact that all of the other kids found him weird since he had bugs and avoided him, so he knew he wouldn't be able to make any friends besides his bugs. But then the girl called Hikari walked up with an open, friendly smile on her face, not a grimace that came on a person's face when they approached.

"Hi, why are you over here by yourself?" she asked him, curious and also concerned slightly — she didn't know why she had this automatic care-for-any-living-thing response, it's just always been apart of her. And since she's really close to Naruto, she gets concerned about him pretty easily.

Shino looked over at her in surprise, was she really talking to him? He wordlessly held out his hand which had some tiny insects resting on his pale fingers. _That_ should have sent her away like all the rest, but she stayed still. Observing his tiny insects that had become a part of him with curious eyes.

"Wow . . ." she murmured in awe, wonder entrancing her at seeing how close the bugs were attached to him.

Shino was becoming slightly nervous and uncomfortable at her close proximity. Especially when she looked up at him and smiled, a strange glow stunning him briefly.

"Can I hold one?" she asked innocently to the shocked Shino.

"Uh, sure . . ." he muttered, sending one of his beetles flying toward her and it landed lightly on her slender finger.

She giggled as it tickled her skin.

"May I ask you something?" Shino said abruptly and Hikari looked up from her playing with the tiny insect. "The other children do not take too fondly to my insects, so why is it that you don't as well?"

_So that's why he was all alone over here, they don't like his bugs . . ._ Hikari thought to herself before answering Shino. "I love all creatures, and I don't really feel any hate or dislike to any of them, even the tiniest ones. I adore these small critters," she said with a giggling smile as the tiny bug continued to tickle her.

Shino's eyes widened, though no one could see. He was both grateful for the girl's understanding and puzzled by what she said. Did that mean she's never felt hate before?

"And I know what it's like to be all alone," she whispered, growing serious before shooting him a comforting grin. "So you can always come and hang out with me and Naruto — we won't mind! I'm sure Naruto will eventually get use to your bugs."

Shino found himself beseeched. Never once has any of the other children offered him to hang out with them.

"Hikari," he mumbled in a low tone, finding himself in slight gratitude. "Thank you." He told her.

"Your welcome Shino," she said, and shock filled him once again. She actually remembered his name from class, and didn't call him by his nickname of "bug boy."

She put the tiny beetle softly back on Shino's hand. "Well, I'd better go see what Naruto is up to, see ya later Shino!" She gave him a wave, which he silently returned but would always remember the girl's encouraging words.

He looked down at his insect and noticed that it seemed to _like _Hikari, something about her made it almost reluctant to leave her . . . _Strange_, Shino thought to himself.

Hikari mainly hung around with Naruto for the rest of the day — both leaving when parents came to pick up their children. Naruto and Hikari found themselves telling about their eventful day while sitting on the same swings where they first became friends, both knowing that they would always have each other.

* * *

"So how was school?" Kiba's mother, Tsume Inuzuka, asked her son who was sitting at the table eating supper.

"It was good. Akamaru and I learned a lot, though most of it was stuff you already told us about," he said, eating a bowl of rice. "And you'll never believe what Akamaru did this morning!"

"What's that?" she asked, only mildly curious.

"He sniffed the air and went crazy! I swear I've never seen'em that excited and happy about anything! He went straight to a girl and hopped right into her arms like he's known her forever!" Kiba exclaimed.

She laughed, "Oh, really? What was the girl's name?"

Kiba smiled. "Hikari Kyoko, and she's really nice and has this sort of . . . _light_ around her that makes her extra pretty," Kiba flushed slightly at admitting that to his mom, but she paid it no mind as she was stuck by the first thing he said.

She was shocked, even stopping what she was doing — washing dishes — and Kiba looked at her back, puzzled.

"Mom?" he asked, noticing how she looked frozen before she continued what she was doing.

"Hurry up and eat so you can get ready for school tomorrow," she ordered, but her mind was preoccupied and her partner, Kuromaru, noticed this.

_So, the Angel of the Leaf is going to be a ninja, huh? _she thought with a wry smile.

* * *

"Reporting, sir!" Iruka said as he appeared before the Hokage.

"Yes, Iruka? What is it that you wished to speak to me about?"

"Lord Hokage, as you know, both Naruto Uzumaki and Hikari Kyoko have signed up for the Ninja Academy. I was watching them today and it seems they've known each other long before the academy. They both seem to be really close to one another, sir." Iruka told him and the Hokage rose from his seat to gaze out the wall-sized window behind him.

"I see . . . Good," he muttered before turning to look at Iruka once more. "Just keep an eye on them." He softly ordered, and Iruka bowed before disappearing.

The Third sighed, looking up at the darkening sky. _Hikari is the light that Naruto will need to quell the demon sealed inside him. After all, only an angel can give off the light strong enough to pierce the thickest darkness . . . The Angel and Demon of the Leaf . . . You will need each other far more than you will ever know._ He thought both strongly, and sadly.


	3. Bloodlines and Dreams

_**I am soooooooooo sorry for this very late update!:( I've been SUPER busy with the holidays and my job but hopefully I'll have time to write this story for you guys!**_

_**STORY NOTES: Some of the dialogue is from a direct Naruto episode, which I do not own. Plz read Broken Wings, and I hope you enjoy!  
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_**Ch. 3: Bloodlines and Dreams**_

**A week had** passed and Naruto and Hikari were always eager for each school day. Either Naruto would go to Hikari's house so they could walk together, or Hikari would go to Naruto's house and they would walk together from there — just whoever woke up and got ready first. Sometimes they would meet each other half-way and then laugh about it as they ran to the Academy.

Their friends: Shikamaru, Choji, Akamaru, Kiba, and now Shino, would hang out together. Hikari had been impressed when Shino began to hang around her and Naruto — Naruto had accepted Shino as long as his bugs stayed away from his ramen, and then the rest of the boys accepted Shino as well, not being really afraid of his creepy crawlers though Shino rarely talked. They mainly stayed in a group when Iruka-sensei took them out to do some ninja training or they went somewhere outside the academy.

Today, they would be on the Academy's training ground, learning how to throw shuriken the right way and hit some moving targets — Iruka clones.

Many had already went up, and now it was Hinata Hyuga's turn, the shyest girl that Hikari hadn't really spoken to yet. Hikari watched her as she focused hard — harder than the rest of the kids that had went up previously.

She threw a series of shuriken and they hit two of the five Iruka clones. Hikari brightened up that she nailed two of them so quickly and looked around at the other kids only to realize that none of them were even paying attention to the Hyuga girl. This puzzled Hikari, didn't she have any friends to praise her for what she done?

Looking back at Hinata, she saw that her face was downcast as if she were upset or disappointed in herself . . . which further puzzled Hikari. It took Naruto forever to manage to hit one . . .

And then it hit Hikari. Hinata was a Hyuga — one of the most royal and powerful clans of the Hidden Leaf Village. They had been learning about their history in class, finding out that they had a true genius in their year — Sasuke of the most powerful clan in the village, the Uchiha's. And then the other one from a powerful bloodline was Hinata. Hikari had looked into it more and realized that in big, dominant clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga, the clan leaders expect more from their heirs. Hinata's cousin, Neji Hyuga, who's a year above them, is seemingly the more gifted one out of the two and thus pressure is put on Hinata to try and not fail in the eyes of her father.

Concern for the girl that she had never directly spoken to before began to strike through Hikari, and she suddenly found herself driven to be a good friend to her from now on.

Putting a bright smile on her face, she called out to the girl. "Great job Hinata! That was awesome! Do it again!" she yelled encouragingly, capturing everyone's attention.

Hinata's unique pearl eyes were wide and glistening in pure shock as she looked back at Hikari.

Naruto gazed at Hikari and then at Hinata with a questioning face while everyone was shocked by the sudden outburst and was staring wide-eyed at Hikari but she remained oblivious. Iruka smiled, looking up from his clipboard that contained the grades each student was performing.

"So what's up, Hikari?" Naruto asked from beside her.

Hikari continued smiling and nodded toward Hinata. "She just hit two of Iruka-sensei's clones like it was nothing, and on her first try too!" she deliberately said in a loud voice so Hinata would hear her too.

Naruto was rather impressed by this, but caught on to what Hikari was doing and got a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. "Whoa — you're kidding! That's amazing!" he exclaimed, both he and Hikari turning to face the white-with-shock Hinata.

All eyes were on her now and she immediately started blushing madly. Iruka saw this and looked at her with a smile.

"Well, Hinata?" he urged in a soft voice and she snapped out of her flustered state.

"Uh, yes, of course!" she quickly spoke and turned around, gaining a mysterious confidence she didn't know existed as she thought about what Hikari said . . . The first time anyone has ever encouraged her like that.

She nodded to herself and began focusing on the last three clones. Driven as she was, a tiny hint of her Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan, showed deep within her pupil-less eyes.

_Focus! _she screamed at herself as she threw three shuriken at the last remaining clones. The spinning stars hit squarely on with the moving Iruka's, causing them to disappear as Hinata's shuriken engraved themselves into the tree where other shuriken lay.

Hinata stood back from her hunched over form and breathed deeply, visibly relaxing. Then her classmates began cheering behind her, surprised, she turned around to see that they were all watching her, all cheering at what she had done, with Hikari in the lead. For one split second, the Hyuga heir didn't feel like such a disappointment, a failure.

And that's when she smiled brightly.

Iruka nodded, pleased with her results. "Great job, Hinata. You can go take a break," he told her.

"Okay!" she said, happiness lacing her voice that took the shy stammer-ness away. She quickly ran away, and to the group that had been cheering her on the most, the one that Hikari and Naruto belonged with.

"You were amazing out there!" Hikari complimented with a big smile.

"Yeah, you were all like whoosh and then —" And Naruto began elaborating everything in a hyper-active way.

For the rest of the period, the small group of kids talked, watched, and cheered each other on as they each went up to practice throwing shuriken. Hikari had done well, almost as well as Hinata, and she spent the rest of the hour telling Naruto she would help him train and get better at it since he seemed a bit disgruntled after Kiba teased him that two girls did better than him.

After shuriken practice, it was lunch break and Hikari and Hinata went in to get the lunches while the boys tried to find a decent spot to eat. On their way out, Hinata slowed to a stop and Hikari stopped, coming up beside her questioningly.

"Hikari . . . th-thank you f-for ch-cheering me on before . . ." Hinata said quietly, looking down.

"Well someone had to," Hikari smiled warmly, inviting the girl to open up.

Hinata nodded, not knowing what to say and Hikari pulled out some confidence.

"Hey," she said, holding out her hand and Hinata stared at her, confused. "We haven't really officially met yet, have we? I'm Hikari Kyoko." She smiled, and Hinata noticed the stunning glow of light around her before smiling too and shaking her hand.

"I-I'm Hinata Hyuga," she said before they let go.  
"Let's find those boys so we can eat!" Hikari said and Hinata nodded in agreement.

"Right!" And together they found their group sitting under a shady tree.

"Finally! I'm _staarving!_" Choji whined, patting his stomach with a frown on his face.

Hikari gave him a comforting smile as her and Hinata sat down with the food. Hikari noticed that Shino was already sitting with the group and she smiled to herself that all of her friends were together.

She mainly talked with Naruto, Kiba, and Choji since they were the most talkative of the group — Shikamaru immediately began relaxing right after he ate and even started snoozing lightly. Shino remained quiet, studying his bugs and Hikari often involved Hinata in their conversations enough that the guys grew to like the quiet girl and cherish her as a friend like Hikari.

When they packed up their lunch and headed inside, Hikari walked with Hinata while all of the boys walked in front of them.

"Wow, your um, fr-friends are n-nice H-Hikari . . ." Hinata said, still a bit shy.

"They're your friends too," Hikari told her with a smile and Hinata seemed to brighten up at that fact.

_Friends . . ._ Hinata thought contently to herself, liking that feeling of companionship.

Together they all went back to their classroom for more lessons before school ended. Naruto began whispering to Hikari in the middle of the lesson.

"Pssst, hey Hikari!" Naruto said in a somewhat loud whisper but no one could hear him because they were in the very back.

"Huh? What is it Naruto?" Hikari quietly whispered back, both of them having one hand up to cover their mouths so no one would be able to tell what they were saying by looking at them.

"Well, uh, please don't be mad but I was going to go hang out with Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba after school today. They say its guys only so I couldn't bring you no matter how much I pleaded!" he said with a guilty expression.

Hikari thought it over. _So this means I'll be alone after school . . _. she thought sadly to herself, and Naruto could sense her train of thought.

"Hey, I don't care what they say! I'll bring you along anyway! Believe it!" Naruto told her, not wanting her to be hurt. But Hikari knew that this was important for Naruto, hanging out with new friends could help him better than she ever could.

"No, it's okay. I'll find something better to do, maybe hang out with Hinata some more — you go and have fun!" she told him with a smile, and Naruto studied her for a moment, trying to see if there was any hint of sadness.

Finding none, he mirrored her smile with a grin of his own. "Thanks, you're the best Hikari!"

They both began giggling to themselves, not paying attention to how loud they were getting.

Iruka loudly cleared his throat, catching the two giggling children's attention. "Is there something you would like to share? Naruto? Hikari?" he asked them, and they both flushed, Naruto laughing to himself and Hikari scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

School was over and Naruto had already left with Kiba and the rest, her waving them off and telling Naruto it was fine, and them telling her that she could come next time.

Sighing, she looked around and saw Hinata, but she was just leaving with her father. She saw them leave quietly, almost without a word, and Hikari found herself at a loss on what to do for the time being.

"Jeez, you have such a giant forehead billboard brow!" A girl teased harshly in a loud voice, causing Hikari to overhear a group of girls ganging up on something.

Confused as to what they were doing, Hikari walked up closer to them. And then she saw that a gang of girls were cornering the pink-haired girl named Sakura Haruno.

And Sakura was . . . crying. The brutal verbal assaults coming from the mean girls triggered something inside Hikari, she didn't like how they were ganging up on the defenseless girl like that. It reminded her of her past, something she didn't like to think about, especially when Naruto wasn't with her — he was always her rock, as long as he was near, she knew she would always be safe.

"How could you ever think you would make it as a ninja with that big forehead of yours always gettin' in the way?" Came a snooty remark from one of the girls, and she said this while pointing at Sakura's forehead and Sakura shrunk back in embarrassment and tears.

"Stop that right now!" Hikari found herself yelling, face set in a scowl to show her disapproval of their actions toward the innocent girl.

She stepped right in between them and the teary-eyed girl, her arms outstretched from her, effectively blocking their way.

Sakura stopped shaking and crying for a moment to look up in shock at the snow-white haired girl who was defending her. The gang of girls were equally shocked by her sudden intrusion before they began frowning at Hikari.

"That's that girl my parents told me to stay away from," One of the girls whispered to the one in front.

"Fine. Whatever." She said out loud, turning to leave with the rest of them following her.

Hikari watched them leave, the defiant look still on her face until she heard Sakura sobbing behind her.

"Hey, are you okay? They didn't hurt you did they?" Hikari asked her softly, her face concerned as she knelled down in front of the girl and placed her hands on the sobbing girl's shoulders in an act to calm her down.

Sakura couldn't believe it. Someone had actually stood up for her. Her! The one that they make fun of because of her extra-large forehead. And it was none other than the girl who had drawn everyone's attention today by encouraging the shy girl, Hinata, during shuriken practice.

She looked up at the girl, Hikari.

"There now, you see? Everything's going to be all right!" Hikari told her with a bright smile, her positive glow beaming and it stunned Sakura out of speaking for a few moments.

_What is this girl? Why is there a light around her?_ Sakura thought to herself before regaining her composure and looking down. "Uh . . . thank you, Hikari. For helping me." She said in a soft whisper.

Hikari's eyes slightly widened. "You know my name?" she asked, astounded that someone remembered her name, the outcast.

Sakura looked up at her with big, green innocent eyes. "Of course I do, your the one who's so nice to everyone."

Those words echoed in Hikari's heart, and she almost let herself cry. To anyone else, those words would but have little meaning, but to someone who was branded their entire seven years of life as a freak or monster, it had a special meaning. It meant someone had noticed her, someone besides Naruto, her best friend. She briefly wondered if this is what Naruto felt when Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba asked him to hang out with them. This sense of more friendship . . . of acceptance.

"Hey what's wrong? Did I say something . . . ?" Sakura questioned, seeing how Hikari was on the verge of tears.

Hikari then smiled the tears away. "Thank you, Sakura."

Hikari helped Sakura up and they stood in the empty academy schoolyard.

"If those kids bully you again, just stand up for yourself — you're ten times better than them!" Hikari told her, she didn't like bullies, and she wanted to help Sakura.

"Th-Thank you, I'll try," Sakura said, nodding to herself.

Hikari smiled. "Good. Well, see ya later!" she sung in her high soprano voice, running and waving bye to the girl.

Sakura waved back, a smile on her face too.

The next few days passed by in a breeze, and Naruto and Hikari found themselves falling into a scheduled pattern: Get ready, meet up, go to the academy, have a few classes, when going outside they always fall into their group and start chatting away until the exercise is done, then it's normally always a group lunch (except when it's those rare days and everyone pairs off to themselves, usually Naruto and Hikari eat together while the others pair off), they go in and do more classes, then they all leave for the park after school — usually it's just Hikari, Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Akamaru since Shino and Hinata leave with their parents. Hikari had become really good friends with the quiet Hyuga girl, she was actually pretty fun to talk with once you got to know her well, and she was ever kind — one of the traits that Hikari immediately liked about the girl, though she could say the same for all her friends since they were all kind in their own way. Though one day, while Hikari and Hinata were off talking to themselves during an outside activity one day, Hinata's question took Hikari off-guard.

She said she had been wanting to ask something for a while now, but didn't exactly know how to approach the subject. When Hikari told her to go ahead and ask, Hinata did, while furiously blushing.

"I-I noticed h-how y-you and Naruto were h-holding hands the f-first day w-we all came to th-the academy . . . I-I was just wondering if y-you t-two were . . . t-together . . ."

It was Hikari's turn to blush madly. "Wh-What're you talking about Hinata? Of course we're not together!" she told her while looking down in embarrassment and Hinata's eyes grew wide as she too looked down, both girls blushing red.

"O-Oh . . ." Hinata whispered, embarrassed as well at her false assumptions. And she was so sure too . . .

"But you know . . ." Hikari said, looking up into the cloudless blue sky above and Hinata looked at her in surprise. "We do care for each other. On a level that no one else knows . . . it's like we have our own special bond . . . and I wouldn't give it up for anything!" Hikari told her, looking back at Hinata with a smiling face.

Hinata smiled back before (speak of the devil) Naruto began yelling at them to come over there and watch something. Hikari and Hinata shared a secret smile together before both getting up and joining their group of friends.

While she was getting ever closer with the friends she already knows, she hadn't heard anything about Sakura and found herself worrying one day. Their class had a huge amount of students, and it was hard just to find one person. So Hikari hadn't heard nor seen Sakura in the past few days since she last helped the girl from the bullies and began to worry and feel concerned.

"C'mon Hikari! What ya standin' around for?" Naruto said as it was time to leave.

Hikari had stopped walking and had begun looking around the schoolyard, her concern growing as she began getting a bad feeling. Hikari snapped out of it though when Naruto spoke, and she quickly covered up her concerned frown with a reassuring smile, closing her eyes in the process so he wouldn't be able to see her inner turmoil.

"Sorry, I'm coming!" she quickly told him and he snorted, turning back around as they began walking around again.

"We'd better hurry — the others are waitin'!" Naruto said while behind him, Hikari had stopped smiling and looked off into the distance.

Elsewhere . . .

Sakura was being bullied by even more girls, and she was completely alone. All of them making fun of her because of her large forehead.

"Whatcha gonna do now, Billboard Brow?" The leader of the girls said in a snide voice, hitting Sakura on the forehead and causing her to fall down.

"Yeah! There's no one here to help ya!" Another girl voiced.

Sakura cried, "Just leave me alone!"

"Or what? You gonna make us, Billboard Brow?" The girl said, hands on her hips as she leaned down to Sakura's level and poked her harshly in the forehead, causing Sakura to whimper. "Face it, you're hopeless!" she told her heartlessly.

Sobbing, and not knowing what else to do, Sakura ran away from them.

After running for who knows how long, she collapsed unto the sidewalk, hands wrapped around her knees as she continued sobbing.

_I'm sorry Hikari, I'm sorry I couldn't be stronger like you said I could be,_ she thought to herself, feeling like she let Hikari and herself down.

Her sobbing was quite loud and a girl with light blond hair heard her crying and went to investigate. She found a girl with pink hair huddled up, sobs raking her body and the girl's blue eyes registered that she was the girl that the kids at the academy always made fun of. In truth, she felt sorry for the girl and wanted to help her out, so she went and kneeled down in front of her.

"Hey, aren't you the one their always teasing because ya got such a big forehead?" she asked the girl.

Sakura looked up from her crying to see a smiling girl sitting in front of her, she didn't look like any of the mean kids that always bullied her but her question caught her off-guard.

"Wh-Who are you?" Sakura asked her in a voice thick with tears.

"Who me? Well that's easy, my name is Ino Yamanaka. Who are you?" Ino said in a clear voice that matched her personality.

Sakura began sniffling. "My name is . . . Sa-Sakura . . ." she said in a muted voice, her words indecipherable due to her sniffling.

"Huh? Hellooo! I can't hear you. Let's try that again, okay? Who are you?"

"My name is Sakura!" she yelled out.

"That's better!" Ino told her as she drew closer and pointed at Sakura's forehead, and Sakura's eyes went wide. "So this is the famous forehead, huh? Whoa, it is kinda big . . . So that's why you hide it with your bangs?" she asked, hitting her back lightly, causing Sakura to start sniffling slightly. "That's dumb, it just makes it worse. Makes you look like a sheepdog . . ." Ino said, brushing her bangs away with her hand so she could see all of Sakura's face.

Ino studied the girl before smiling, knowing just what would improve Sakura's look and confidence; the red ribbon she had at home. She would be able to pull her bangs away from her face so that way it would frame it — because she actually had a pretty face, she just needed to show it off some more.

"So your Sakura, huh?" Ino said, still smiling.

Sakura sniffed. "Uh-huh," she murmured to the girl and Ino let her bangs fall back down as she began to walk away.

"Hey, you know what? I've got something special for you, come back here tomorrow okay?" Ino told her, and Sakura looked up at her in surprise as she waved bye.

Little did she know, that this would begin Sakura's first friendship.

_**A few weeks later . . .**_

Hikari was psyched! Today would be her first kunoichi class!

Excited, she quickly got ready and began running to go get Naruto. She ran up to his apartment and knocked on his door.

"What? What? Jeez, you look excited!" Naruto said with a chuckle as he opened his door.

"Uh-huh! I can't wait for class today!" Hikari told him with a beaming smile, which Naruto mirrored, and they soon speedily made their way to the academy.

Naruto was excited too, but he was already missing Hikari since she would be gone most of the day, along with Hinata. But he was happy to see her positively radiating that strange glowy light of hers. It always seems to wrap around him and fill him with nothing but happy thoughts and emotions.

The girls of the class were quickly rounded up by a female instructor, taken outside the academy, and into a forest with wildflowers everywhere!

"Oh wow, this place is so pretty!" Hikari spoke to Hinata as they both gazed around them in awe.

Hinata nodded and, sharing a smile with her friend, walked to where their teacher was calling them all to sit in a group. They both sat toward the back since the front was already taken.

"Kunoichi have a special role to play, they must not only learn ninjutsu, but also a wide range of knowledge and refinement as women. If you can't blend in to enemy territory by adapting the customs of the women there," she mused, fiddling with her glasses. "Then you'll never be able to succeed as a spy. In any event, today's class is flower arranging." She told the class as everyone began standing up. "Now then everyone, go into the fields and gather distinctive flowers."

Everyone cheered a "yes ma'am!" and the girls paired up or went out into groups to hunt for flowers.

"C'mon Hinata! Let's go!" Hikari cheered, taking her by the hand and leading her out into a spacious area filled with all different types of flowers.

The two quickly began picking different types of flowers to make them look good, but somewhere nearby . . .

Sakura and Ino paired off together, the two were very close friends now, ever since the day Ino helped Sakura overcome her embarrassment.

Picking a flower, Sakura spoke in a somewhat timid voice. "I'm just not very good at this kind of stuff. What about you?" Sakura asked her friend as she sat down beside her.

"Well that's not good considering your named after a cherry blossom. Okay, look, it's simple — I'll explain it all right?" Ino told her and Sakura looked up in surprise. "The first thing is, find a main flower for your bouquet. Then you find other flowers that compliment the main one. You see, flowers have to highlight each other's beauty. There's really nothing to it once you know all the tricks," Ino explained without missing a beat (considering she was practically raised in a flower shop). "For example . . ." She than began looking around and Sakura followed her gaze to a batch of pretty pink flowers. "Look. You see those cosmos flowers over there? Well if they were the main flower in your arrangement, than the thoroughwort flowers you picked would compliment them." She said, pointing to white flowers that were less-appealing than the cosmos flowers. "Cosmos flowers are also called autumn cherry blossoms, and they're the prettiest flowers in the fall. Their name comes from an old word that means harmony, they can harmonize with all of the other flowers and any autumn grass would go just perfectly with them in a flower arrangement." Ino further explained, leaving Sakura in awe of her friend's in-depth knowledge.

Sakura looked down, wishing she had known that, when Ino picked a thoroughwort flower from Sakura's small bouquet.

"So, tell me, do I look as pretty as the cosmos flowers now? C'mon, am I cute?" Ino asked her, holding the flower up in front of her and giving a wink.

Sakura took a moment, always in awe at Ino's outgoing nature.  
"Uh . . . yeah!" Sakura told her, her voice soft.

"Sheesh! Took ya long enough to say it!" Ino teased, acting angry which Sakura laughed loudly at.

"Well, well, you sure look like your havin' a lot of fun. Billboard Brow. Ha!" The mean girl from before who always bullied Sakura the most, came up with two other girls. Her snide remark stopped Sakura from laughing anymore as she turned around to face the intimidating girl.

Ino just sat there, glaring daggers at the girl who was making fun of her best friend.

The mean girl walked up closer to the frightened girl, causing Sakura to shrink back.

"You know you're still nothing but a hopeless little girl, Sakura. So don't go strutting around like your hot stuff, got it?" She threatened while thumping Sakura's forehead harshly, causing Sakura to gasp and whimper.

Suddenly, three flowers sailed sharply through the air and landed squarely in the mean girl's mouth, causing her to fall backwards.

The other two girls shouted her name while rushing to her side.

Ino withdrew her extended hand.

"_Sorry,_ that head of yours is so empty that I mistook it for a vase, and thought I might put some flowers in there," Ino said in a sarcastic tone, fed up with all of the rude teasing of her friend.

The girl swiftly sat up and screamed, "INO!"

"It's aconite, a shinobi flower. I guess it's not really _that_ poisonous, but still, ya might wanna spit those out when ya get the chance," Ino said in a threatening voice, causing Sakura to look back at her with wide eyes.

The three girls squealed and ran away to rinse out the 'poison.'

Ino suddenly giggled, causing Sakura to look over at her.

"I forgot to say that only the _root_ is poisonous!" Ino chided, sticking her tongue out as she continued to giggle to herself.

Sakura began smiling. _Ino is so . . . great! She knows practically everything! Her clothes are so stylish, and she's way cute! She's even good with her shuriken! Compared to that . . . I'm . . . nothing . . ._ Sakura thought to herself, becoming down and Ino could sense it.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ino asked her softly while Sakura gazed down at the tiny, insignificant thoroughwort flower in her hand.

"Ino if you're a cosmos flower . . . than am I just a thoroughwort?" Sakura mumbled, more to herself, and Ino sighed.

"Now why would you say that?" Ino asked her with a smile on her face and Sakura looked up at her. "Well, let's see . . ." Ino thought before giving Sakura a huge grin. "Actually, I don't think you're a flower at all, Sakura. You're still a bud waiting to bloom!" Ino told her in a comforting tone.

This shocked Sakura, and she began to laugh without humor. _So I'm not even a flower . . . _she thought sullenly to herself, looking down once more while Ino gazed at her with a serious expression, wanting her to see the hidden meaning behind what she said.

Silence came over them and Ino started daydreaming until Sakura began speaking. Ino didn't hear the first part so Sakura repeated herself, looking up at her shyly.

"Why did . . . you give me this ribbon? What's it suppose to mean?" she asked in a quiet voice and Ino smiled at her.

"Well actually . . ." Ino gazed out in front of them at all of the flowers. "Let's just say I thought it would be a real big waste for you to wilt away as nothing but a bud," Ino gazed at her before looking down and softly caressing a bud of a yellow flower. "I mean, how sad is it if flowers never bloom?" A breeze passed through and Sakura began to process what Ino was saying. Ino looked back at Sakura. "For all we know, that little bud . . . It might become a flower even more beautiful than a cosmos," Ino gave her a warm smile.

Sakura sat there, inspired by Ino's heartfelt words that held so much meaning to her. Her eyes began glistening up with happy tears she's never shed before. _Thank you, Ino. Thank you. _Sakura thought the words she couldn't speak out for fear that her tears would be unleashed.

Ino looked up, snapping out of the moment.

"Hey, c'mon," Ino said softly, standing up while Sakura visibly shook from all of the emotions coming at her. "We've gotta finish our assignments."

"Uh, okay . . ." Sakura said in a teary voice which Ino noticed.

"What's wrong Sakura?" she asked her.

"U-Um . . . I got some dirt in my eyes when I fell."

Ino snickered to herself, "You're so clumsy!" she giggled.

They both began to look in a spacious field of flowers.

When Hikari thought her flower arrangement looked good enough, she turned to face Hinata.

"So . . . what do you think?" Hikari asked, showing her flower bouquet.

Hinata smiled. "It looks great Hikari!" she told her with a smile, to which Hikari returned.

"Hey, yours looks better than mine!" Hikari teased, but was truthful, it seemed Hinata knew a little more about this stuff than she did.

Sakura and Ino both heard two girls laughing and Sakura turned to look when she thought she heard the name "Hikari."

She then gasped in recognition when she saw the white-haired girl, along with Hinata Hyuga.

"Hikari!" Sakura yelled out, crossing the field to get to where they were, Ino followed her with curiosity and confusion.

"Huh?" Hikari and Hinata both looked up to see a pink-haired girl running happily toward them with a light-haired girl following close behind.

Then Hikari recognized the girl and immediately shouted out her name with a huge grin on her face.

The two smiled at each other as Hikari began the questions that had her concerned. "Where have you been? Are you okay and everything?"

"I'm fine, I've just been hanging out with my friend, Ino!" Sakura told her, gesturing to the girl beside her and Hikari gazed at her before smiling.

"Hi, I'm Hikari!" she told her, and Ino remembered her from class, how captivating the glow of light was . . .

"Hi there," Ino said with a smile.

"This is my friend Hinata," Hikari introduced the girl beside her.

"Uh, hello . . ." she said a bit shyly, a slight blush on her cheeks appeared whenever attention was on her.

Sakura and Ino both said a friendly "hi" to the girl and soon enough, the four girls were all sitting together amongst all of the flowers.

"Wow Ino, your flower arrangement is so beautiful!" Hikari said in awe as she studied the complimenting colorful flowers.

Ino smiled. "Thanks, but it was easy!"

"Huh?" Hikari looked up at her questioningly, as well as Hinata.

Sakura decided to answer their question. "Ino's family owns a flower shop in town, so she knows a lot about flowers!"

"Oh, wow, really?" Hikari asked, looking back at Ino.

She nodded. "Yep, and I can help ya out if you want," she offered them, and Hikari and Hinata smiled at each other and nodded toward Ino.

"Well, actually Hinata's so far is really good, she has all of the flowers complimenting her main one like mine. All you need is to add some extra yellow flowers and yours is complete!" Ino said to Hinata who mumbled a thanks. "Hikari, yours are a really beautiful pick too, but you need some smaller flowers to go with your biggest flowers so they'll even each other out."

"Okay!" Hikari nodded, and went to search with Hinata.

"Your friends are nice Sakura," Ino mused with a smile, and

Sakura turned to look at her. "Do you think they can be friends with me too?" she asked her with a grin, her eyes closed.

A happy smile stretched across Sakura's face. "Yeah!" she answered before getting up and dragging a surprised Ino along with her to their new friends. All four of the girls giggled and chatted all the way till their assignment was done and they returned o the academy.

Out of all four of them, Ino's bouquet was the best. But Sakura's, Hikari's, and Hinata's were all good too and they passed with high scores. They even got to take their flower arrangement home with them!

Carrying her bouquet, Hikari went into the next class. The final class of the day, and also the class where she would be with Naruto again. Smiling widely to herself, she quickly went up to her usual seat beside him.

"Hey! Look at what I made!" Hikari showed him her flowers and he studied them with a huge smile on his face.

"Wow Hikari! You made this?" he questioned at its greatness.

"Yep, but I had help from Ino and Sakura!" Hikari told him.

"Ino? Sakura?" he questioned and she pointed out the two girls as they came in the classroom.

Iruka-sensei then started the class and everyone took their seats. Today's last lesson would be very important, they would be learning about the Hokage, the leader over their village who made sure it was protected no matter what.

Naruto was in complete awe as Iruka-sensei explained what being Hokage meant. The Hokage was the most respected, most powerful, and wisest shinobi of the village.

Being Hokage meant everyone looked up at him.

After school finally ended, Naruto and Hikari went by their apartments to drop off their things before heading off to the nearby park.

Hikari met Naruto there, he was on the swing with his head down, barely swinging at all and she knew that pose; he was deep in his thoughts.

"What's wrong Naruto?" she asked him as she took the swing beside him.

"I've just been thinkin' about Iruka-sensei's lesson, about the Hokage." Naruto said in a low and serious tone, still looking down.

Hikari looked up toward the sky with a thoughtful expression. "Oh yeah, I betcha being Hokage is tough, but it probably pays off in the end."

"Huh?" Naruto looked up at Hikari, wondering what she was thinking as she continued staring up at the evening sky.

"I mean . . . people look up to you, cherish you, but most importantly . . ." Saying this in a soft voice, she looked at Naruto with a smile, her eyes closed. "You'll get to help others, and be able to call everyone your family. To me . . . that love is what really matters."

Naruto just sat there, eyes glistening as he gazed at his most cherished friend. He felt the moisture build up in his eyes from hearing her words and quickly wiped them away with his arms.

Hikari noticed and looked at him questioningly before he looked onward ahead with a smile on his face and determination lacing his blue eyes.

"Then, that's exactly what I want to be. To become the greatest Hokage, so kids like you and me won't ever be alone — but will always be accepted." Naruto said in a bold voice that made Hikari stare at him in awe. Naruto turned to her with a wide grin on his face, "To be Hokage is my dream!"

Hikari soon laughed lightly to herself, her eyes soft as she studied him. "Then . . . I believe in you Naruto, I _know_ your dream will come true!" she told him, feeling deep down the rightness of her words. _And I'll help however I can to make your dream come true Naruto . . ._ she thought to herself as they both smiled at each other, eyes closed.

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**_Yeah . . . I love happy moments. And Naruto and Hikari, so if you agree, or like this, then plz review and tell me!:D_**


	4. This Little Light of Mine

_**I'm so glad I'm forgiven, lol:P I'm super glad everyone liked it, hope you all like this one!**_

_**Disclaimer: Nothing of Naruto is owned by me, only my original characters and plot.**_

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_**Ch. 4: This Little Light of Mine**_

**Time passed, and **Naruto's dream was soon known throughout not only the academy, but the entire village. Naruto wasn't subtle about making his dream known to others let's just say . . .

But Hikari's life was perfect, even Naruto's. They were in a good place right now. Surrounded by friends everyday, (she started eating lunch with Ino and Sakura until she convinced them to come and eat with the group, and everyone seemed to get along) and honing their ninja skills.

They had been learning and focusing on chakra for a few days now, and some were even able to focus hard enough to _feel_ it deep within themselves.

Shockingly, Hikari had been the very first. And it had been a very strange experience for her . . .

_*** ~ (flashback) ~ ***_  
_  
Iruka-sensei had called everyone outside to focus and bring out their chakra, and, as usual, Naruto and Hikari stood beside each other — arm-length apart — with the rest of their friends around them in the same manner._

_Iruka showed them the hand sign to use to try and summon it out of them, already going over the basics and essentials before to uncovering this sacred power that lay within._

_So they all began focusing, most of them closing their eyes including Hikari.  
_

_**Focus yourself**, she thought to herself softly as she began searching within her — something she's **never** attempted before now._

_At first, there was nothing, an empty void . . . until she suddenly found herself being encased in something white. It tickled her, and she giggled (mentally) before she noticed that the white things were . . . feathers?_

_**Huh? **she thought, confused, as her shimmering mist gray eyes studied her surroundings. She was within herself, standing in a dark place, though it didn't frighten her in any way. And then the snow white feathers began falling all around her . . . and they landed so softly on the invisible floor beneath her. She gazed questioningly at the feathers when suddenly — making her gasp — they began to shine a bright glow of white. The light was blinding, pure, and warm . . . and it suddenly wrapped around her, became a part of her . . ._

_And then her chakra unleashed from within, suddenly encasing Hikari's form as her eyes shot open and everyone gasped from the sudden explosion._

_Naruto and Sakura — who had been standing beside her — jumped back as soon as the visibly blue power was spiraling around her._

_Iruka had gasped the loudest, quickly running up to the girl as everyone stared wide-eyed and shocked at the girl._

_Hikari stopped herself from exerting her chakra and stared at her hands — wide-eyed as well. She couldn't believe it . . . **She** did that?_

_**That was . . . such an amazing feeling, and that light . . .** She smiled to herself then.** It was so warm. So inviting . . . pure . . . **_

_"Hikari!" Iruka said in astonishment, not sure what to say. He has never had a student summon their chakra so quickly and summon so much of it out that it was visible!_

_She looked up at him with an elated smile. "Oops, I guess I overdid it . . ." she said with a carefree laugh — she couldn't help it, she was still feeling so incredible from that light and huge energy release. It was like something was awaken inside her, and whatever it was, she liked it._

_**~ * (end flashback) * ~**_

After the initial shock from her friends at how quick she was to summon her chakra, everything went back to pretty much normal. Naruto had summoned his, and he summoned it like Hikari, a huge amount of it spiraling around him until he stopped it.

Soon after, they began learning how to do the substitution jutsu, which would take some time since they were still practicing their shuriken and kunai.

It happened, one afternoon of a non-school day, and Hikari went out walking by the soft stream that was near her apartment. Naruto would come by soon, after he finished eating.

Hikari sat down, looking at her reflection in the crystal clear water. She decided to pass the time by focusing her chakra — Iruka-sensei said that doing this daily would help with chakra control since Naruto and her would have trouble at controlling their chakra since they both have a _lot_ of it.

She closed her eyes, holding the hand sign in place as she concentrated.

Everytime she delved deep inside herself, she always arrived in that black room — though now it was mysteriously getting lighter and lighter every time she went there — and those same white feathers would begin to fall all around her, comforting her . . . She never had to stay there long because the chakra would instantly come to her. But today she felt like staying for a little longer . . . see if the feathers would turn into light like before . . .

And suddenly, the light wrapped around her body until it _physically_ came out of her body and Hikari stared wide-eyed as it floated above her palms in front of her.

It was warm, inviting, and had an absolutely mesmerizing gentle glow about it. Hikari couldn't take her eyes off of it.

It was almost like it was _alive_. It hovered above her protectively and almost . . . friendly-like. Hikari found herself standing and holding the light with her hands. Every time she moved, it moved, as if it were a part of her . . .  
_  
Well it DID come from within me . . ._ she thought to herself, studying it. She bit her lip before deciding to experiment with it.

She moved her palms and it went _exactly_ where she wanted it to go . . . as if it really is apart of her . . .

"Hikari!" Naruto called to his friend as he ran up to her with an eager smile on his face — like he always was after a good meal and whenever he saw his best friend.

But when he saw the shimmering, glowing white light hovering around Hikari, he stopped dead in his tracks and stared wide-eyed at her.

"H-Hikari?" he questioned, blue eyes bugging out of his head.

Hikari wondered on what to tell him, she wasn't going to play anything down though, she wasn't ashamed of this mysterious . . . _power_ she had over the bright energy.

"Naruto . . . I-I'm not sure how it happened but . . ." She then stared at him with a determined look, she knew her friend, and knew he would understand — probably far more than anyone else. "I was focusing my chakra just like Iruka-sensei told us and I was in that room again within myself" —she had already told him about the room and feathers before— "when the feathers turned into light and it . . . went _inside_ myself, fusing with me until I opened my eyes and saw it had actually came out of me." She softly explained, begging him with her eyes to understand this strange phenomenon.

Naruto studied the light a moment, taking her explanation in. He knew that whatever this light was that she had control over was good . . . because Hikari was good. He then broke out into an enormous grin that warmed Hikari's heart.

"Sure, I believe you Hikari! Heck, I think it's cool!"

Hikari's smile became more pronounced at his words. "Really? Oh, you're the best Naruto!" she said sweetly, giving him a big hug that made him blush a bit though she didn't notice as she let go.

His blush faded as he quickly became excited at Hikari's weird . . . light-thingy around her.

"So what can you do with it?" he asked her eagerly.

"Hmm . . . I guess pretty much anything I want. It moves when I move and it seems a little . . . _protective _over me, but it also has this friendly feeling about it." She said this as she gazed at the floating light around her.

Naruto pondered this, gazing at it as well as if to decipher the mystery behind it before he smiled. "Hey, can I touch it?" he asked playfully, absolutely curious about it.

Hikari stared at him dubiously before agreeing, directing the light to Naruto's hands and it happily obliged.

Naruto instantly felt so much warmer . . . and he felt something stir deep within him before the light quickly banished it away. Naruto smiled at it, feeling so at peace . . . The light, as if in response, wrapped around him, tickling his cheeks which made him giggle.

"Hey, stop it! That tickles . . ." he spluttered out in between giggles and Hikari giggled along with him.

They sat by the river for a while, playing with the light and Naruto watched Hikari bend it all around her and send it off to different directions and it always came back to her.

Strangely enough, when it was time to head home, the light — as if sensing it — went back inside Hikari through her heart and the inside of her instantly warmed. The place above her heart shone white after it entered, securing it there, before the white light quickly disappeared.

The next day, Naruto and Hikari stayed a little bit after school to practice controlling their chakra. What they didn't expect was for the light to come out of Hikari once more.

Hikari had been focusing, this time with her eyes open. When nothing happened, she thought it to be hopeless. And suddenly, as if to comfort her, the light appeared before her — warm and inviting.

She stood, staring wide-eyed at it and Naruto noticed it as well.

"Hikari!" Naruto said, alarmed as he began looking around them cautiously. "Hurry and put it away while no one's looking!" he told her anxiously, not wanting any one to know about Hikari's special . . . _gift._

But Iruka had been watching the two, and seeing this, he walked to them in shock and Hikari and Naruto looked up at him with frightened faces. Both thinking the same thing: _What will he think about us now?_

But Iruka quickly covered his shock up with a smile. "Hey you two, how about we all go out to eat? My treat," he told them, and both stood there, confused.

"Really?" Hikari asked him, wondering if he had seen the light that had seeped out before it had quickly went back in — as if it knew what Hikari had been thinking when Iruka-sensei walked up to them.

He nodded. "Sure, you two have been working really hard." He told them earnestly.

Naruto and Hikari shared a look before Naruto responded back. "Uh . . . sure."

Iruka nodded, still smiling, and led them into town. All the while he would talk to them about how it was his favorite place to eat and he was sure that they would love it.

But town was where Naruto and Hikari rarely ventured to since that was where the majority of people were that always glared at Hikari and Naruto.

Their thoughts were realized as soon, most of the villagers they walked by gave them death glares. Hikari walked closer to Naruto as they walked behind Iruka and Naruto took her hand while he held his head up high to the onlooking people. Iruka noticed their glares toward his students and he glared right back at the villagers, and most of them stopped out of respect.

"Alright, we're here," he told them shortly after and the two children looked up at the sign which read "Ichiraku Ramen Noodle Shop."

Iruka patted the two seats beside him and Naruto and Hikari sat on either side of him as he ordered them all bowls of ramen.

Hikari and Naruto looked at him expectantly, but their attention was diverted when the ramen chef began talking to them.

"So who are these two?" he asked Iruka politely, always one for talking to his customers.

"Oh, these are two of my students at the academy — Naruto Uzumaki and Hikari Kyoko," Iruka introduced them and they both smiled politely at the ramen chef.

"Hi," Both Naruto and Hikari said, causing the ramen chef to smile at them.

"Hey there, you two better eat up if you want to be strong ninja when ya get older," he told them, serving them their bowls of ramen.

"Alright!" Naruto said loudly while Hikari just smiled in agreement and Naruto was the first one to dig in.

Immediately tiny hearts formed in his eyes and he mumbled in an awed, blissful voice, "Oh wow, this is the greatest thing I've ever ate in my entire life!"

Hikari was in complete agreement, and soon they devoured their entire first bowl and were moving on to seconds.

While on their third bowl, Iruka decided to speak about the situation at hand.

"Hikari," he spoke softly, catching her and Naruto's attention and they turned their heads to gaze at their sensei. "That light from before . . . it's apart of you?"

Hikari cast her gaze down, staring into her ramen with a blank look — not wanting to give anything off but Naruto knew better. He knew that that blank stare signaled that deep down she was concerned for their teacher's feelings and thoughts toward her. "Yes, it is." She answered quietly, and Naruto's gaze at her softened at the timidly sad undertone in her voice.

Iruka nodded. "I see."

A silence befell the three for a short while as they mutely began eating again — less eagerly on Naruto's side as he constantly shot looks toward Hikari but she kept her head down, eyes hidden by her long snow white hair.

Hikari's mind was racing with questions. _Would I be taken out of the academy because I'm too different? Would they take Naruto out too? Would the rest of the world never understand me besides Naruto? Why do I even have this light_?

Naruto finally had enough stalling and he quickly slammed his fist down on the surface between him and Iruka. "Okay, I've had enough! Are you gonna accept Hikari or not? 'Cause if you don't then maybe we shouldn't be here!" he shouted, visibly fuming. So what if Hikari had this special talent? In Naruto's eyes, different was good — with Hikari anyway.

Iruka and Hikari stared at the boy with wide eyes and astonished faces before Iruka erupted into cheerful laughter. The two ninja-in-training stared at him confused and questioning.

"Oh Naruto, I accept Hikari!" he said in a kind voice after he laughed. "Sure she may be a little different, what with being able to control light and all, but maybe it's a good thing. I, for one, just wanted to treat you both to dinner at my favorite place — not to punish you or lecture you," he told them, and both smiled tenderly at the chunin. "But, I do suggest that you try not to show off this light of yours Hikari. I'm not so sure that the other students will be so accepting as I am, or Naruto."

"Right!" Hikari smiled at him, eyes closed in a serene expression.

Iruka turned to look at Naruto. "And Naruto, you be sure to help Hikari with this, as a friend."

Naruto mirrored Hikari's look, laughing lightly, "Right!"

Iruka smiled, nodding at the two, before they finished their meal and Iruka payed for it and saw the two children off. But they always seemed to eat at their favorite noodle shop from time to time.

Later, Iruka had went straight to the Hokage's office and told him of Hikari's summoning light, to which the old man smiled, knowing that progress with the two special children were being made.

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**_So? Like it? Hate it? Plz review and tell me!:D_**


	5. Twist of Fate

_**There's a lot of Sasuke in this chapter so fans of Sasuke will probably (hopefully) like this one! And an important NOTE: I tried my best to keep Sasuke into character, please remember that before the Uchiha massacre Sasuke was a well polite and playful kid, so that's how he is until the end (you'll see).**_

_**So I hope everyone enjoys this and doesn't get mad at me - I tried my best, I really did! Oh, and when I uploaded this the line breaks would not work, which was really annoying...**_

**DISCLAIMER:** Naruto does not belong to me, only to Masashi Kishimoto!

_**Chapter 5: Twist of Fate  
**_  
**Report Cards would **soon be out as the end of the semester was coming up and Hikari tried extra hard while also trying to keep Naruto in check as he, Choji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and his dog Akamaru, tended to get in trouble and often pull pranks.

It was on one hot sunny day, that Hikari would meet someone who would be not only her's, but Naruto's lifelong friend.

They were all outside working on their shuriken practice, really basic stuff since Iruka-sensei and all of the other teachers were busy with other things. They were going up one at a time while most watched, and others simply stood around talking. Hikari was standing with Sakura and Hinata, Ino was out today sick.

"Guess what!" Sakura whispered in an excited breath to Hikari and Hinata and both looked at her. "You'll never guess, but I have a _huuuge_crush on someone!" she told them with a beaming grin — she had already announced it to Ino and the rest of her friends earlier but she wanted everyone else to know too.

"Crush? Who?" Hikari asked her, looking over at Naruto and the rest and wondering if it was one of them that caught Sakura's eye.

Sakura then blushed, looking away a bit shyly which piqued Hinata's and Hikari's curiosity. "Sasuke Uchiha," she told them, and both girls' eyes widened and they pictured the raven-haired boy in their heads.

"Oh, wow . . ." Hinata murmured softly, smiling at Sakura.

"Really Sakura?" Hikari asked her enthusiastically, excited about Sakura's new-found love even though she doesn't know the Uchiha boy . . .

Sakura nodded and looked up with a smile, eyes closed. "Yep!"

Then, as if on cue, Sasuke went up to throw shuriken and Hikari noticed that more people were paying attention.

Sakura's attention was entirely focused on him as she marveled at his talent and Hikari saw that a lot of other girls were also staring at him with smiling and blushing faces.

And true to his genius name, Sasuke hit all marks perfectly which left all of his admirers wanting more. And Hikari found herself wanting to know more about him, it was like the light within her was telling her to go talk to him, befriend the loner boy.

So, when it was time for lunch, Hikari told Hinata and Sakura to go on and prepare without her. They figured she just wanted to practice her shuriken more so they went on still smiling and talking.

Hikari stayed back and fell into step with Sasuke.

The surprised Uchiha looked over at the white-haired girl walking slowly beside him. His dark eyes were wide, most of the other kids were too intimidated by his 'genius abilities' to even approach him.

"Hi!" Hikari greeted him with an open and friendly smile, her light radiant as ever around her and it stunned the boy for a second before he quickly recovered.

"Uh . . . hi," Sasuke greeted back with shy hesitance.

"We've never been properly introduced before have we? My name is Hikari Kyoko," she said.

Sasuke looked shocked before quickly recovering and putting a smile on his face. "Nice to meet you, I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

Hikari smiled back, glad to see him opening up but wondered why the boy was never seen hanging around other kids . . . and then a thought struck her. "An Uchiha, huh . . . Is that why you're always training? To live up to your clan's name?" She outwardly voiced, looking up at the clouds and Sasuke's eyes widened but she didn't see.

Sasuke looked down, deep in his thoughts. "Yeah, I want to train so hard that my father will be proud of me . . . So I can surpass my older brother Itachi."

Hikari looked at him thoughtfully. "Training is good and all but . . ." She remembered how hard Sasuke looked after training intensely for hours one day . . . And how lonesome he seemed walking home. She then smiled at him, eyes closed. "But you don't have to be alone — just be your own person!"

Sasuke studied her, taking in what she said before deciding to befriend the understanding girl. He smiled when Hikari reopened her eyes.

The two walked and walked in silence until the other children came into view and Hikari remembered something.

"You know all of those girls have a crush on you, right?" She pointed a finger at a cluster of girls who were cheering Sasuke and admiring him from the sidelines before.

Sasuke looked to where Hikari was pointing and acknowledgment crossed his face. "Oh, yeah." He said, smiling shyly and Hikari figured he would already know by now by his slight fan-club.

Hikari then smiled at him, inclining her head to the side. "Hey, I know!" she suddenly said in an excited voice that caught Sasuke by surprise. "Why don't you eat with my group? It'll be fun!" she told him, hoping to introduce him to all of her friends in hopes of them befriending the lonely boy. Plus, she knew Sakura would love it.

Sasuke seemed shocked at first but then he smiled, accepting her invitation. "Sure," he told her in a quiet voice and Hikari thrilled upon hearing that.

So, when lunchtime rolled around, Hikari caught up with Sasuke and led him to the big tree where the group sat at.

"Oh hey Hikari!" Naruto greeted her upon her arrival like usual but when he caught sight of the raven-haired boy he jumped up. "Who's this?" Naruto closely inspected the boy before recognition dawned on him. "Hey your that kid from shuriken practice who made a perfect score!"

Everyone was staring now, including a certain pink-haired girl whose cheeks were burning red at the sight of her crush a mere few feet away.

Hikari smiled and loudly said, "This is Sasuke, I invited him to have lunch with us if that's okay with all of you."

The group pondered over it before they all accepted him and went on with eating and talking.

Hikari sat down beside Naruto, her usual place of sitting, and Sasuke sat down beside her with Sakura sitting on the other side.

Sasuke looked around at the group of children his age with mild curiosity before he was interrupted by a loud voice belonging to Naruto.

"So, Sasuke, I hear you're a 'genius' or something . . ." Naruto said, clearly not believing it.

"Well, yeah. Considering my last name is Uchiha," Sasuke told him in a sarcastic manner which made Naruto fume.

"I bet I could ya any time, anywhere!" Naruto shot back and Sasuke smiled a confident grin.

"Bring it on," he said in an equally confident tone of voice which had Naruto think he was doubting his skills and he growled.

Sakura giggled at the two from beside Hikari and Sasuke turned his head to look at the girl and Sakura immediately stopped and blushed under Sasuke's gaze.

"Oh, uh, hi . . ." Sakura spoke timidly, she was still a bit shy without Ino by her side.

Sasuke smiled in a friendly manner, oblivious still to Sakura's affections for him. "Hi there," he greeted her and Hikari smiled to herself.

Sakura looked back up at him, nervous about having her crush so close and actually speaking to her . . .

"I-I'm Sakura, it's nice to meet you Sasuke," she said in her shy voice.

Sasuke held out his hand, still smiling. "It's a pleasure," he spoke politely, using the same gesture and words his mother told him to say to a pretty girl.

Sakura was a bit shocked, but quickly recovered with a flushed face and shook his hand with a small giggle.

The two began engaging into small talk and Hikari shared a smile with Naruto, both of them happy that it seems they've gained yet another friend.

Report Cards were passed out as more time passed, and Naruto and Sasuke had developed a bit of a rivalry between them, to which Naruto got Hikari to help him train so he could surpass the Uchiha genius.

Hikari had also become closer to Sakura, since Sakura's crush only kept getting deeper for Sasuke. One day they found out that he liked girls with long hair and Sakura began confiding everything in Hikari and Ino.

One day Sasuke left before everyone and Hikari and Naruto stayed a little afterwards since Iruka-sensei would be taking them out for ramen since the two had been working hard. Of course, the truth was, (though he'd never admit it) Iruka had grown a soft spot for both Naruto and Hikari. Despite their upbringings, they always trained harder than any of the other students and kept a level head . . . Naruto was even considered the class clown with his constant pranks.

Iruka sighed as he walked in the classroom to find Hikari and Naruto sweeping the floor and cleaning the blackboard while keeping idle chit-chat.

"Iruka-sensei!" They both shouted when they caught sight of him and their sensei couldn't help but smile at their excited faces.

"Yep, so are you two ready to eat some Ichiraku ramen?" he asked them and both cheered a "Yes!"

"Just let me get my bag," Hikari said and Iruka nodded and she happily skipped to the back and grabbed her brown bag off her desk.

On her way back to the front, she happened by where Sasuke normally sits and saw that his homework assignments were left on top and knew Sasuke must have forgotten them.

"Iruka-sensei," Hikari said, capturing Iruka's attention. "Sasuke left his homework here, can I take it to him?" she asked politely while also being her bright self.

"Hmm . . . I don't know . . ." Iruka was worried the villagers might harass her if she were alone, but since she knows basic ninja skills she should be able to handle herself . . .

"I'll just swing by and meet you guys at Ichiraku!" she told him, hoping he'd say yes.

Iruka sighed, but agreed. "Sure."

Hikari smiled widely and hopped down to them.

"I don't know Hikari . . . Maybe I should go with you," Naruto said, a bit worried for her safety.

Hikari shook her head at him. "It won't take long, just save me a bowl for when I catch up with you!" she shouted at them as she raced off.

They had looked at a map of the village in class one day, so Hikari knew her way to the great Uchiha compound.

Problem was . . . She didn't know which one was Sasuke's house, as she later realized when she reached the entrance and walked through.

Many people walked by in a friendly atmosphere — all carrying the same traits almost.

Dark hair and dark eyes.

Hikari groaned, thinking she would never be able to find where Sasuke lived in time to meet up with Naruto and Iruka-sensei.

"Well hello there dear, my you look lost." Came an elderly voice and Hikari looked up to see a well-sized woman with brown hair and dark eyes. She was sweeping and cleaning the outside of a bakery and sweets store.

Hikari smiled. "Hello, and yes, I was looking for Sasuke's house. Do you know where it is?" she asked the woman politely.

"Oh, so you're a friend of Sasuke's then?" she asked, and Hikari nodded and the woman continued, looking thoughtful. "He lives that way, just follow this road and . . ."

The woman kindly gave her the address and Hikari sped off after giving her thanks to the kind lady.

When she found the house, she knocked first and heard two voices on the other side before the door slid open, revealing an older-like Sasuke. _This must be Sasuke's brother that he told me about, Itachi. _Hikari thought to herself while gazing up at the older boy who looked at her in a calming way.

Hikari quickly bowed in respect and greeting. "Um, hello, is Sasuke home?"

"Hikari?" Sasuke replied in a shocked manner, standing behind the older boy who looked back at him.

"Oh, Sasuke, here," she rummaged through her bag and got out his assignment. "You left this by mistake so I thought I'd bring it to you," Hikari told him, handing Sasuke the papers and he took them after rubbing his forehead where his brother had flicked him before.

"Oh . . . thanks." Sasuke told her with a smile, looking up at her from the papers he looked over.

"I should be leaving now Sasuke," Itachi spoke, interrupting the two children and Hikari realized that he wore a bag over his shoulder and armor like he was about to head out for a mission.

"Already? But you just got here!" Sasuke complained, and Itachi didn't say or do anything but simply look down in deep thought.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, but I have to get going," he told his little brother in a disattached voice before he looked to meet Hikari's gaze. "It was nice meeting you Hikari," he said politely, and Hikari blinked.

"Oh, yes," she nodded with a small smile. "It was nice meeting you too."

Itachi nodded and soon disappeared from sight. But Hikari saw something in his dark eyes . . . something wrong . . .

She didn't know what it was, but the feeling deep inside her that she was getting made her heart clench. She didn't like this feeling of dread.

"Sorry about Itachi, he's got an important mission to go to." Sasuke spoke, breaking Hikari out of her thoughts as she turned to face her friend.

Hikari was still worried over the intense feeling she was getting and decided to ask.

"Sasuke . . . if you don't mind me asking . . . but why isn't your brother acting like his normal self?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. he only thought about that before now, he never mentioned it to anybody . . .

But Hikari knew. Just _knew_, that something was wrong.

Sasuke's shocked eyes returned to normal before he replied, "I'm . . . not sure really. He hasn't been his self ever since . . ." Sasuke mumbled, more to hisself toward the end as he remembered that day when Itachi fought those three in front of their house . . .

"Ever since when?" Hikari asked after a few silent seconds passed, and it broke Sasuke out of his deep thinking.

He put on a smile, not willing to completely open up to her with his clan problems. "It's nothing, just family stuff."

Hikari's eyes became downcast, thinking that he must have thought that she wouldn't understand since she doesn't have a family . . . "Oh, I see . . ."

Sasuke then gazed at her and realized his mistake. "No, I didn't mean —"

"Sasuke?" Came a woman's voice as Sasuke's mother, Mikoto, rounded the corner and came upon the two children.

"Mom?" Sasuke questioned while she gazed over at Hikari and she smiled a bright smile.

"I thought I heard talking, but I didn't know it was you and your friend," she told him, smiling at the two with her eyes closed before she opened them to gaze once more at the pretty little girl with magnificent snow white hair. "And what's your name?"

"Oh, uh, Hikari Kyoko ma'am." Hikari told her with a small smile, slightly blushing that the beautiful woman was showing attention toward her.

"Hikari, huh? Well that's a pretty name," she told her before standing straight up. "Would you like to stay and have dinner with us Hikari?"

Hikari couldn't help but gasp at her kind invitation but knew she had to go and meet Naruto and Iruka-sensei before they began to worry. "O-oh, thank you for inviting me but I have to meet up with my friends at Ichiraku."

"Alright then, but come by at anytime, you're always welcome here!" Mikoto told her and Hikari smiled brightly, her glow stunning the Uchiha mother before she ran off with a cheerful, "Bye!"

_I don't get it, why do I still have this feeling inside me that something bad is about to happen?_ Hikari thought to her self as she walked to class with a hand over her heart and looking down at it. _My light is even acting strange . . . Ever since going to Sasuke's that one time and meeting his brother, Itachi . . . _She continued to ponder as she entered the classroom for the last lesson today.

It had now been several days since her encounter at the Uchiha residence, and ever since then that same odd feeling deep down hasn't left her. If anything, it's gotten _stronger_.

Naruto was a little worried about Hikari since she had been acting strange ever since going to Sasuke's house days ago. He asked if something happened, (preferably if Sasuke did anything to upset her so he could beat'em down) but Hikari told him it was nothing and to not worry because she just saw how big of a family Sasuke had, which was reasonable for an orphan to long for. So, in the end, Naruto let it go. But he couldn't keep the nagging thought away that something was _wrong_.

It was almost like he could feel it through Hikari, which is _way _crazy.

_Geez, I'm losing my mind! _he thought to himself, abruptly scratching his head and letting out an exasperated groan.

"Naruto? Is there something wrong with this lesson?" An irritated Iruka questioned since Naruto was still groaning loudly, interrupting his lesson.

"Huh?" Naruto stopped, looking back at the front where everyone else was staring at him. He smiled widely, scratching his cheek in a nervous manner. "Well, you _could_make it a little more exciting . . ." he chided, making the rest of the class laugh, but it made Iruka angry.

"WELL, Naruto, perhaps you should teach this lesson then!" he told him, and some of the students let out a few giggles.

Hikari was smiling, but noticed that Sasuke wasn't having as much fun as the rest of the class . . . he had his head down, he seemed spaced out. And she was concerned, and then whispered to Naruto after the class died down.

As soon as school was over, Hikari and Naruto walked out together.

"Ugh . . . I don't see why we have to do this Hikari . . ." Naruto complained, his arms behind his head.

"Just do it, it's for Sasuke!" Sakura told him as she came up beside them, making Naruto grumble.

"Sakura's right, he's our friend, and he needs cheering up!" Hikari told him, trying to uplift his spirits since Naruto was the most positive and cheerful person she knew.

She had a plan, and decided to tell Naruto and Sakura about it since they were good friends with Sasuke. A plan to spend the most funnest afternoon with Sasuke — in hopes of cheering him up.

"Do you see him anywhere?" Hikari asked as they peered through the crowd of children for the raven-haired, spiky haired boy. Naruto had his hand up over his eyes to shield them from the bright sunlight so he could look better.

"There he is!" Sakura shouted after a while of looking, she pointed to him as as he stood in the crowd, walking slowly out of the academy schoolyard.

"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto, the loudest of all, shouted as they ran up to him.

Surprised, Sasuke turned around to face his three friends.

"What is it?" he asked them.

"We want you to spend the afternoon with us!" Sakura abruptly said, blushing right afterwards as she caught her excited self.

"What?" Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. "Thanks guys, but I really should be getting home." He told them, starting to turn away.

"Wait!" Hikari shouted, and he halted midstep, looking back at her. "_Please _come with us! I promise you'll have lots of fun!" she said in a pleading voice, her gray eyes shimmering as she gave the distinct "puppy dog face" without even realizing it.

Sasuke thought it over, but he decided to go with them. "And if I don't have fun?" he challenged in a confident manner.

"Then . . ." Hikari pondered, but Sakura beat her to it.

"Oh, I know! Then we'll all help you practice whatever jutsu you want us to help you with!" she said brightly.

"Hey!" Naruto shot in, not agreeing to this at all. Why should_ he_have to help Sasuke practice anything?

Hikari nodded her head in agreement with Sakura. "That's a great idea!" she told her, and Sakura smiled.

"Hmm . . . Sure, I guess so," Sasuke told them, and Hikari and Sakura practically jumped for joy while Naruto looked away with a sharp "hmph!"

So the four children walked to the park where the group usually play and have fun. And like a couple of children, they easily began having fun with any game they played.

Whether it was "Ninja" or Tag, they were always laughing and enjoying themselves.

It was definitely a fun-filled afternoon for the four young academy students. A memorable one at that too.

When the sky became dark, they realized how late it had become and so quickly. Hikari summarized it as being because they had so much fun, but the four quickly dispersed into different directions leading home as they all said their goodbye's to one another.

"Today was great Hikari!" Naruto told her as they slowly walked on the path leading up to their apartments.

"Really? I hope so," Hikari said, wondering if Sasuke had truly a great time as the rest of them.

Naruto laughed. "Of course! I've never seen Sasuke laugh so much or even act _fun_like today! You really outdid yourself with this plan!" Naruto said, meeting her eyes.

"You really think so? Oh thank you Naruto!" she told him gratefully, hugging his neck before running up to the separate path that led to where she lived. "I'll see you tomorrow, bye!"

Naruto waved at her with a big grin on his face as he watched her go into the night before he, too, walked on the path to his house.

_I'm running so late! _Sasuke thought to himself as he ran to the Uchiha compound as fast as he could into the full moon night. The afternoon was quite enjoyable, and he wouldn't have wanted to spend it any other way. He was actually contemplating spending such an afternoon again with his friends.

But, as he ran through the thick night, a set of powerful eyes watched him as he headed straight into his inescapable fate that would be his scar for the rest of his life.

* • * • *

News spread like wildfire throughout the Hidden Leaf Village and even outside it. That the great, powerful, and elite Uchiha clan was wiped out by one of its own.

Save for one survivor. One small boy who lay in a hospital bed recovering from his own brother's attack.

Sasuke Uchiha.

A week passed before Sasuke returned to school, but of course when Hikari had heard the news she had went deathly still.

_No . . . this is my fault. I KNEW something was wrong but I didn't say anything . . . and now look at what's happened. Sasuke's alone like us, but he's already lost so much more than we ever did . . . _Hikari had been in tears about it, sitting on the swing — her thinking place.

She didn't know how she would be able to face her friend now. After all, if Sasuke knew about what Hikari had felt, wouldn't he be angry at her for it? Wouldn't he bare a grudge against her and hate her?

Hikari couldn't stand that thought of her friend hating her. She wanted to make it right, but how? Could she really confess to him about what she thought she had known right from the start?

"Hey, Hikari!" Naruto's voice cut the silent air around Hikari but she didn't move, she kept her head down in shame.

Naruto, oblivious, sat down in his usual swing beside her.

It was only when Hikari had stayed in the same position, and hadn't responded to him at all that he finally realized the deep depression his best friend was in.

"Hikari!" he practically jumped from the swing and rushed to stand in front of her slumped form. "Hey, are you okay? What is it?" he asked her anxiously, never having seen this side of her for as long as he's known her.

She silently shook her head, at a loss for words, but the anxious tone to Naruto's voice made her look up.

Tears poured from her shimmering eyes, more tears than Naruto has ever seen her shed.

"N-Naruto, I-I d-don't know wh-what t-to do!" Hikari sobbed out, stuttering so much that her shoulders shook.

Naruto didn't think, he just acted as if on instinct. He held Hikari in his arms as she sobbed uncontrollably. Muttering unintelligible words of sorrow and regret.

Naruto didn't know _why _exactly Hikari was so upset, but he bet it had something to do with what happened to Sasuke . . .

And, that feeling he got a while back that something was wrong with Hikari . . . because now, it seemed as if that feeling was getting stronger by the day.

When Sasuke returned to school, he was not his self at all. He was little more than a zombie, though his grades were still remarkable. He became colder, less caring, even moving to the back of the classroom on the far end where no one sat. It was like he wanted to isolate himself from the rest of the world, and Hikari couldn't help but think that it was her fault. Her mistake, her blame.

But Naruto was the one that always distracted that nagging part of her mind. But as the years passed by, she watched as the Sasuke she once knew crumbled and faded away into an icy cold, anti-social person that he grew to be.

° ~ ◊ ~ º

_**And this marks the end of Part 1: Academy Students. Part 2: First-Time Genin will start with the next chapter! **_


	6. Frightening Revelations

_**Duhn, Duhn, Duhn! Part II of BW is finally here! So sorry about the EXTREMELY long wait for this. I apologize. I won't let it happen again! The companion to this story is up! It's called Beneath the Darkness (or BtD for short), so you can check that one out if you want! ^_^ Anyway, on with the story...**_

**Some changes:** I've made a few changes to my story. For starters, the Rookie 9 (10, now, counting Hikari) are all thirteen instead of twelve like in the original Naruto. Just because I think 13 is a more suitable age for them to be graduating and going into the full-on ninja world. Most of the dialogue from this chapter is based on Masashi Kishimoto's work (which I do not own) of the anime episode 1 and Volume 1 of the Naruto manga series. There are a few changes in speech, but most of it is from episode 1. And, well, Mizuki is still a butt:P

All in all, I hope you enjoy it! Now I bring you BW Part II!

* * *

**Part II ~**

_**Ch. 6: Frightening Revelations**_

**"NARUTO!" A group** of angry villagers and ninjas shout as they try and catch the young hyperactive prankster.

Naruto, now thirteen years old, had grown up some since his academy days (though he was still_ in_ the academy). He still harbored an incurable knack for mischief and trouble-making, and daily pulled pranks which caused a bit of a ruckus inside the village. He now wore an orange jumpsuit-like outfit with a dark blue belt and dark blue around his broad white collar. The Uzumaki symbol was on his left shoulder while he wore some goggles on his forehead.

The young blond and spiky-haired boy laughed as he ran and jumped away from the irritated people chasing him.

Using his ninja skills, he quickly hid and camouflaged himself against the wooden gate wall and waited for his pursuers to pass. After they had went, screaming his name, he came out of the camouflage with a delighted chuckle.

"Ha! They fell for it!" he said to himself, proud that he led them astray.

"Oh? What was that, Naruto?" A calm voice came from behind him, belonging to that of Iruka Umino. "YOU'RE IN BIG TROUBLE!" Iruka shouted at his student who yelped in surprise and terror.

"Agh! Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said, jumping so high before he landed hard on the ground. His blue eyes stared at his teacher, already knowing his punishment.

Elsewhere, back at the Ninja Academy, a certain white-haired young girl sat at her desk, her head resting on her arms. She let out a sigh, wondering where in the world her best friend had gone.

Hikari, now thirteen as Naruto and everyone else, wore a dark gray, long-sleeve shirt with green rings at the ends of the sleeves and at the bottom and top of it as well, and then a white turtleneck underneath. The shirt slightly came over her white ruffled skirt that had black leggings underneath and she still wore ninja shoes, only they were dark gray.

Looking around the room, she saw all of her friends where they normally sit. There was Shikamaru and Choji sitting together in the front, Shino by himself, Kiba and Akamaru in the middle, Hinata sitting off to herself too, Sakura and Ino by each other close to the front, and then . . . Her gaze looked over a short distance away at Sasuke, sitting sullenly by himself as well. Another sigh escaped her lips, after all these years nothing's changed.

Except for the guilt in her heart.

Suddenly, the classroom doors burst open and in came Iruka-sensei carrying a tied-up Naruto.

_Oh no . . . what did you do now, Naruto?_ Hikari thought to herself as Iruka put Naruto down.

"I'm at the end of my rope here, Naruto. You failed the Graduation test last time and you're doing it again! Tomorrow's your last chance so don't miss it!" Iruka scolded him, to which Naruto just "hmphed!" and looked away. Which caused Iruka's temper to strike as he pointed to the rest of the class. "Fine! But since YOU missed it, everyone will review the Transformation Jutsu!" he shouted, causing a lot of the students to groan and complain.

All of the students stood in line taking turns, and then it was Sakura's turn.

She stepped up, her pink hair now much longer and she now wore a red qipao dress with white circular designs, with sleeves, a zipper, and tight dark green shorts. "Alright, Sakura here, let's do it!" she spoke in a confident voice before shouting, "Transform!" And she transformed into a perfect replica of Iruka-sensei.

"Transform into me, good." Iruka said with a smile, writing her grade on his clipboard.

"Yes, I did it, I did it!" Sakura chanted happily to herself after she transformed back. _**Yeah, I kicked butt!**_ her inner self exclaimed. Sakura turned to beam at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, did you see that?"

"Next," Iruka spoke, and Sasuke came up after a beaming Sakura left to go sit back down.

Sasuke, without a word, transformed into Iruka and then left while Iruka counted his grade.

"Hikari Kyoko," Iruka called next.

"Oh, yes!" she answered, quickly taking her place in front of her sensei.

_Alright, focus!_ she told herself.

"Yeah, Hikari! You can do it!" Naruto yelled to her encouragingly, and Hikari smiled at him appreciatively.

"Transformation Jutsu!" she called, and then a puff of smoke surrounded her but then quickly disappeared to reveal an exact replica of Iruka.

"Good job, Hikari." Iruka told her with a smile and she transformed back.

"Thank you!" she said, beaming, before turning to go back to her seat. She stopped by Naruto and whispered, "Good luck!"

Naruto grinned at her and then Iruka called his name.

"This is a total waste of time," Shikamaru said irritably beside him.

"We always pay for your screw-ups," Ino said grumpily from the other side of him.

"Like I care," he mumbled to them, stepping up and putting the same grin on his face as before with Hikari's whispered words.

"Transform!" he shouted, and then a puff of smoke surrounded him but then quickly disappeared to reveal a . . . girl? And not just any girl, but a dazzling, revealing girl.

Iruka's eyes got big before he fell backwards, his nose bleeding.

_Oh, Naruto . . ._ Hikari thought, shaking her head because she knew that this in fact would get him into even more trouble.

Naruto laughed as he came out of his jutsu. "Got ya! That's what I call my Sexy Jutsu!"

Iruka raised swiftly up, angry and shouting. "CUT YOUR STUPID TRICKS! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"

* * *

After school, Naruto met up with Hikari as usual.

"So your gonna go and clean the Hokage faces?" Hikari asked a grumpy Naruto beside her as they walked down the hall that led outside.

"Yes, unfortunately." He grumbled, and Hikari put her hand on his shoulder, never liking when her best friend was down like this.

"Hey, want me to help? We'll be able to get it done faster and I've saved up enough for us to go out and eat at Ichiraku's!" she said, smiling at him, hoping that would cheer him up.

"Really? Ichiraku?" Naruto said, drool practically hanging from his mouth as he got all excited. But then he remembered the rest of what she said and his tirade stopped. "But you don't have to help me, Hikari, it was my screw-up . . ." he said, looking down again.

"What? _Screw-up?_" And then she abruptly took hold of both of his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "Hey, don't ever talk down to yourself like that Naruto! It was just a prank, which your amazing at. Besides—they're just for fun, it's everyone else's fault if they don't see it as that!" She all but shouted at him, and Naruto's blue eyes were wide.

A few seconds passed, and then Naruto grinned from ear to ear, his eyes closed, and scratching the back of his head. "Gee, Hikari! I didn't know you cared so much about me!"

"Well of course I do, you knucklehead!" Hikari told him, her eyes alight now that he somewhat got the message and Naruto started laughing.

"So, you really wanna help me?" Naruto asked her after a few moments passed and they were walking again.

Hikari looked at him, her mist gray eyes meeting his blue ones. "Yep!" she nodded.

Iruka smiled, having heard and see the two's exchange from around a corner. He abruptly disappeared in a cloud of white smoke and reappeared where Naruto and Hikari were just arriving.

"Are you ready, Naruto?" Iruka asked him, but it didn't faze the upbeat Naruto.

"Sure, let's go!" he answered, and Hikari smiled.

"Hikari, you can go on home." Iruka told her and she looked at him.

"No, I want to stay and help Naruto!" she told him.

"And why is that? You're one of my best students Hikari, you don't deserve any punishment."

"Yeah, but—Naruto's my friend! And I'll always be there for him!" Hikari told him, feeling the rightness in her words.

Iruka then smiled, glad that the two of them were so close, closer than any of his students.

"Alright then, but it may take a while." He told them, and they followed him as he took off to the Hokage monuments.

* * *

Hikari and Naruto stood on raised platforms, cleaning graffiti off of each face.

"You're not going home until you've cleaned every last drop of paint, Naruto." Iruka yelled to him from his spot on top of the head. "Hikari, you can go home whenever you like."

"So what? It's not like there's anyone waiting at _home_ for us!" Naruto yelled irritably, and Hikari stopped to look over at her friend, seeing how hurt he was underneath.

Iruka started, briefly remembering how his childhood had been . . . and then his words and actions grew softer.

"Naruto?" he mumbled, and Hikari peeked up at him.

"What do you want now, sensei?" he grumbled out.

Iruka began scratching his chin, looking up at the sky. "I was thinking . . . how about after you clean all this up I can take you both out for some ramen—the good stuff."

Hikari and Naruto beamed up at him as Iruka looked back at them.

"Now that's some serious motivation! We'll have this cleaned up in no time!" Naruto all but shouted, becoming faster.

And in no time at all, they were done and headed off to Ichiraku.

As the three of them sat around eating their ramen, Iruka began talking to Naruto.

"Naruto?"

"Hmm?" Naruto questioned as he slurped up his favorite ramen.

"Why would you do that to the Hokage faces? I mean, you do know who the Hokage _are_ don't you?" Iruka tried to reason things with him.

Naruto slurped up the last of his ramen before responding, Hikari mildly paying attention to the two's exchange.

"Of course I do. Everybody knows, they were the greatest shinobi of their time, right? The best of the best, undefeated ninja champs?" He said before thinking back to the last face carved into the rock wall of the Hokage monument. "And the Fourth Hokage is the one who saved the village, from the Nine-Tailed Fox. He was the _most_ amazing!" he murmured.

Hikari then remembered the day in class when they heard the heroic tale of the Fourth Hokage, how he gave his life to destroy a terrible demon . . .

A sudden twinge grabbed Hikari's heart, like something had just poked at it when she thought of the "demon." Strange, but she didn't think anything of it and went on with eating and listening to the two beside her. They continued to chat—Naruto boasting how he would be the greatest Hokage ever.

_Yep, good ol' Naruto!_ Hikari thought with a small smile.

* * *

After their meal was finished, Hikari and Naruto walked back home.

"Iruka-sensei is really cool, huh?" Hikari spoke, gazing at Naruto beside her.

"Yeah, I guess . . ." Naruto mumbled, looking up at the stars that lit their way.

Hikari giggled. "So, ready for our final Graduation Test tomorrow?"

Naruto looked at her with a big grin, closing his eyes. "You know it!" he told her confidently.

They both had a good night's rest before the morning came, and it was time to head to school.

Many students went ahead of them, and seemingly all passed.

"Hikari," Mizuki called, looking at the white-haired girl with a smile. "It's your turn."

Hikari took a deep breath, smiling in return.

"Hey, you'll be fine, believe it!" Naruto told her, eyes bright as she nodded her head and followed Mizuki into the room.

Time passed, and Naruto waited for his friend to emerge, but why did it feel like it was taking_ longer? Ugh! I need to know what's happening!_

And then, the doors opened and out came a positively beaming Hikari carrying a Leaf Village headband.

"Alright!" Naruto shouted, jumping up and running to his friend with excitement.

"Naruto! Look! I got my own headband!" Hikari exclaimed with excitement matching that of Naruto's.

"That's so cool, Hikari! Just you wait, I'm gonna go in there and get one too!"

Hikari nodded at him. "Good luck, Naruto, I know you can do it." She told him sincerely and he nodded, racing in.

"Okay! Here I go!" Naruto shouted once he entered.

"Ah, yes, Naruto. Go ahead," Iruka gave him a smile of encouragement.

"Transform!" Naruto said, forming the hand sign as his chakra was brought forth.

As soon as the white puff of smoke disappeared, Naruto and his teachers looked beside him.

Instead of a clone of Naruto beside him, there lay a horrible, drowned-rat looking version of Naruto.

Naruto was busy trying to hold in his laughter while Iruka's eye twitched in annoyance. Didn't he ever take anything serious?

"YOU FAIL!" Iruka all but shouted.

_WHAT?_? Naruto thought as he was tossed out.

"Naruto?" Hikari questioned as she walked up to where he was tossed. "Did you pass?"

Naruto recovered and stood up, his eyes in slits.

"Who cares about graduating anyway!" He huffed and stormed out suddenly, his humiliation and rejection taking its toll.

"Naruto!" Hikari yelled after him, suddenly confused and more than a little concerned for her best friend. She started running after him, but Naruto was faster and had already disappeared.

* * *

_Naruto? Where could you have gone?_ Hikari thought to herself, already having gone by their houses and the park looking for him.

She stopped by Ichiraku, holding the flap above her head with her arm and peeping her head in.

"Well hello there Hikari," Ayame greeted with a smile, and Hikari smiled back.

"Why don't you sit for a while and eat a bowl?" Teuchi, the ramen chef, said before noticing Hikari's headband tied to her forehead. "Congratulations! I see you graduated!"

"Oh, thank you." She told him gratefully with a grin, closing her gray eyes briefly before growing serious. "I've actually come by looking for Naruto. Have you seen him any?"

"Hm, Naruto? No . . . I haven't seen him any . . ." Teuchi pondered, scratching his chin in thought.

"Oh, okay thanks!" Hikari said, trying not to get depressed at coming empty-handed yet again. She ducked out of the shop and ran down the street while he shouted back at her.

"Hey, at least eat a bowl of the new spicy ramen!" But Hikari was already gone, looking for her lost friend.

She eventually resorted to using her light to track him. She's never really tried it before (because there had never been any reason to) but she—and her light—knew Naruto very well so it shouldn't be so hard.

Hiding in a relatively remote place and staying hidden in a tree, she put her hand over heart and closed her eyes. Reaching deep within herself, she brought out the light that rests within her.

Opening her eyes, she was greeted by her bright companion.

She smiled warmly as it wrapped comfortingly around her, filling her with reassurance that she desperately needed at the moment.

"Okay, I need you to help me find Naruto." She told it, and it instantly straightened up and started leading the way. "Wait!" she called out, quickly jumping from tree to tree as it ghosted through the air at a steady pace.

_**Meanwhile . . .**_

Naruto sat with Mizuki on an empty building balcony.

Naruto still looked depressed, and it didn't help with what the villagers said earlier today . . .

_All of the students gathered in the Academy schoolyard, talking amongst themselves as their parents came to get them and congratulate them._

_Parents passing saw Naruto, hidden among the shrubs and trees where he sat at the tree that him, Hikari, and their friends would sit at when they were little._

_Sure, he was a good distance away from everyone, but he could still over hear them._

_"Hey, isn't he the kid who—?"_

_"Yeah, that's him. The only one who failed!"_

_Two adults talked, their eyes cold and judging on the young boy._

_"Serves him right . . ."_

_"Can you imagine if they let someone like that become a shinobi . . . ? I mean, think about what he** is** . . ."_

_"Don't even go there."_

_And that's all Naruto needed to hear. He swiftly jumped from tree to tree to get away from all of the harsh words . . . and happy laughter that he couldn't have._

_He just wanted to leave and never look back, but something stopped him._

_"Hikari . . ." he whispered, stopping on a tree branch overlooking the Leaf Village._

_He couldn't just leave her! She was all he had . . . And he was all she had. They were inseparable, and Naruto was determined it was going to stay that way._

_That was when he started searching for her, but the village was busy because of the Graduation and he couldn't find her._

_And then Mizuki-sensei found him and wanted to talk . . ._

"Iruka is a really serious guy . . . His parents died when he was young. So everything he's accomplished he did by himself, with a lot of hard work and discipline." Mizuki told him, the evening breeze rustling their hair as he tried to make Naruto understand.

"So? What's that got to do with me?" Naruto questioned sullenly.

Mizuki glanced at him. "So you remind him of himself."

Naruto was shocked. _Like himself? How . . . ?_

"He wants you to be strong with all his heart, but that will never happen if he goes easy on you."

"But . . . I really wanted to graduate." _Especially with Hikari._

"Then, I guess I have to tell you. It's a secret, but I'm gonna let you in on it." Mizuki said while Naruto turned to him, anxious to hear this "secret."

* * *

Hikari was dead tired. It turns out, running around and using her light all day really drained her strength. She now sat up against a building, panting and trying to catch her breath.

_Where are you Naruto?__!_ She felt like screaming, staring up into the night sky. She was so worried. _I hope he's not in trouble . . ._

She then heard several people yelling nearby and grew curious. She decided to investigate and quietly snuck over to where a large number of adult shinobi gathered with the Hokage.

"This time he's gone too far!" One yelled haughtily, scaring Hikari a little and she ducked down further. _Who are they talking about?_

"Lord Hokage, that scroll holds secrets to our village, secrets that the First Hokage sealed away. If in the wrong hands, it could bring destruction to our village!"

"Agreed. Bring Naruto here at once!" And the Hokage dismissed them and they all scattered throughout the village while Hikari remained speechless.

_Oh no, Naruto what have you done?_ She stood up, determination taking over her exhaustion. "I have to find him before the others do!" she said, quickly running across rooftops and searching for her friend.

Hikari knew that Naruto was reckless, but never_ this_ reckless!

* * *

Naruto sat by an old shed in the middle of the woods that nobody came to anymore. There he sat with the scroll open, reading the first jutsu and learning it.

_Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu . . . Why did it have to be the one jutsu I'm bad at?_ Naruto thought, but he did it any way. He really wanted to pass, so he could fulfill his dream of being the Hokage, _the very best Hokage._

With time and effort, he managed to master it and make it his own.

But that was the only jutsu he got to before Iruka found him.

"It's all over . . . I finally found you," Iruka said, standing over Naruto who was still out of breath.

Naruto looked up and saw his sensei. He stood up and started laughing. _Great! Now I can show him this technique and he'll have to let me pass!_

"Caught me already? Your quick, sensei! I only had time to master one technique," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head and grinning.

_He's been out here practicing, I can tell he's been training hard._ Iruka thought, slightly shocked by his student.

"Listen Iruka-sensei, I'm gonna show you this awesome new jutsu and then you're gonna let me pass and then everything will be okay! That's the way it works, right? Mizuki-sensei said that anyone who learns a jutsu from this scroll gets to Graduate!" Naruto said excitingly, beaming at Iruka who stood appalled.

_Mizuki? Why would he . . . ?_ Iruka thought but then kunai came flying through the air toward the pair.

"Look out!" Iruka said, pushing Naruto out of the way as the kunai dug into his flesh—pinning him to the building behind him.

Naruto gasped, sitting up. "Iruka-sensei!"

Hikari heard Naruto's shout and quickly landed on a nearby tree only to see Iruka pinned and bleeding.

She gasped, her hand over heart._ What is going on?_

"I'm impressed that you managed to find our little hideaway so quickly, Iruka." Mizuki said, crouched on a tree branch above.

Everyone turned to him, Hikari and Naruto shocked, while Iruka was accusing.

"So that's the way it is? I should have known!" Iruka said while Mizuki smirked and stood up straight.

"Naruto! Give me the scroll, now." Mizuki ordered to the confused boy.

"Wait a second, wh-what's going on here?" Naruto questioned while Hikari thought the same, both of them looking from Iruka to Mizuki.

"Naruto, don't give him the scroll! It contains forbidden jutsu's that could put this village in great danger. Mizuki _used_ you to get the scroll for his own power!" Iruka said, painfully removing one of the kunai from his leg.

Hikari saw his pain and wished for it to go away. Suddenly, her light circled around her and she looked at it questioningly. She then knew that it must have felt her strong desire and surfaced, strengthening her resolve.

With determination in her eyes, she sent part of the light to Iruka, where it lifted the pain.

His eyes went slightly wide, but then he saw Hikari nearby, and knew it must have been from her. _So, Lord Hokage was true about that. The legend of her powers . . . Thank you, Hikari._ He thought, feeling the pain slowly leaving.

Naruto was shocked at having been used by Mizuki-sensei, a man he trusted.

"Naruto . . . Iruka's just trying to scare you, so you don't take the scroll. He doesn't want you to have it," Mizuki told him softly, convincingly.

Naruto looked with wide eyes at Iruka, not knowing what to believe.

"Stop lying, Mizuki! Naruto, don't let him trick you!"

Mizuki laughed cynically. "Oh, I'll tell you who's _really_ lying."

"Stop! Don't, Mizuki!" Iruka said, knowing what was coming and he didn't want the two children to know, especially this way.

"They've been lying to you your whole life, Naruto." Mizuki started, fully ignoring Iruka. "Since the decree thirteen years ago . . ."

"What . . . decree?" Naruto asked.

_What is he talking about?_ Hikari wondered.

"Everyone knows about it except you and your little pal, Hikari."

"Don't tell him, it's forbidden!" Iruka shouted.

"What is this decree? Why can't I know about it or Hikari?" Naruto questioned.

Mizuki glanced at him, an evil glint in his eyes. "The decree is . . . No one can tell you that the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox is inside you!"

Naruto and Hikari gasped. Naruto from shock and horror, but Hikari felt like her insides were turning in a weird way . . . Like the revelation was changing something about her . . .

"The Fox Spirit that destroyed our village and killed Iruka's parents has taken over your body. You are the Nine-Tailed Fox!" Mizuki shouted.

Iruka began shouting at Mizuki to stop it but it was already too late. Naruto began putting the pieces together . . . Why he was always alone, why people hated him and shunned him.

Hikari felt like something kept beating painfully against her chest, trying to push her back but she remained rooted to the spot. Afraid to think, afraid to move . . . _Naruto_ . . . she thought hazily.

Mizuki continued. "They've all been sneaking around and hiding things from you your whole life. Didn't you think it was strange how they treated you? Like dirt! Like they hated you for just being alive!"

"NO!" Naruto shouted, his chakra swirling around him in his anger and hurt. _No, no, no, no, NO!_

"Naruto . . ." Iruka said, in despair at having him find out the truth like this.

"That is why you will NEVER be accepted in this village! Even your beloved sensei hates your guts!"

_No . . ._ Iruka thought, thinking back to how he had grown up, all alone . . . Without the love of a family. Being orphaned, isolated, picked on, frowned upon . . . _He's hurting inside._

"Die, Naruto!" Mizuki said, throwing his giant shuriken star at the defenseless boy.

Hikari was too immobile to do anything, and Iruka shouted for Naruto to get down. The next thing Naruto knew, Iruka was standing over him, saving him by taking the blow. The ninja weapon stuck out from Iruka's back.

Mizuki growled, having missed his real target, but pleased that Iruka wouldn't be getting in the way.

"Wh- . . . _Why?_" Naruto asked, his eyes glistening.

"Because we're the same." Iruka spoke, and his words rung through Hikari's ears like a light in the hazy fog clouding her mind. Those words that were spoken to her so long ago . . . When her and Naruto had first met. The instant connection there, in their shared pain, but why did Hikari feel like they had a connection that went deeper than just pain?

Hikari held her head, feeling a wave of emotion consume her.

Iruka's tears fell on Naruto's cheeks as he continued while blood seeped from his wound. "After my parents were gone, I was so alone . . . I didn't know what to do. My grades dropped, I stopped interacting with the other kids. Everyone seemed to not care, like I wasn't there."

Naruto felt tears come to his eyes.

"That's why . . . when I see you, Naruto and Hikari . . . It's almost like I can feel what you're feeling. Because I know what it's like, you feel lonely and it hurts inside. And I'm so sorry that I couldn't be there for you two more."

Mizuki laughed. "Iruka, stop all this sappy dribble. Do you honestly think he believes you? Or even cares? He's a demon! Nothing but a monster with no heart, and no soul!"

Naruto ground his teeth together while everything in Hikari broke.

_No! Naruto isn't evil! He has a soul and a heart. He's normal, just like everyone else! Yet, why is there a burning deep inside me from the knowledge that there is a demon inside Naruto? He's still the same person!_ Hikari argued in her mind.

"NARUTO!" Hikari abruptly shouted, done with all of the doubts in her head and the strange feelings in her body. Everyone looked up at her in surprise.

_Hikari? What is she doing here?_ Naruto thought, his eyes wide.

And then, suddenly all of the energy left Hikari's body and she fell faint. Her body tipped over and started plummeting to the ground below.

"Hikari!" Iruka and Naruto both shouted, and Mizuki caught her.

"Well, well, what do we have here? I think she'll make a nice prize to some collectors, wouldn't you agree Iruka? Considering what she_ is_." Mizuki let on in a sly manner.

_What? What is Hikari? Is she like me?_ Naruto thought, shocked still.

"No. That's enough!" Iruka said, ripping the giant shuriken out of his back and standing up. "Unhand her right now, Mizuki!" Iruka shouted, throwing the ninja weapon straight for his head but Mizuki easily dodged.

"Your a joke. Once I take that scroll, I'll be unstoppable!" Mizuki said, laughing greedily before suddenly Naruto headbutted painfully into Mizuki's stomach.

He dropped Hikari, and Naruto caught her in mid-air before landing on the ground. He then took off with her and the scroll.

"Naruto!" Iruka called after him, but it was too late.

Mizuki laughed, getting up and dusting himself off.

"Did you see that look in his eyes? Those are the eyes of a beast. He's going to take his precious Hikari and together they'll wreak havoc on the village."

"You're wrong! Naruto and Hikari aren't like that at all." Iruka said.

Mizuki snickered. "Whatever, once I obtain the scroll, I'll be back for you." And with that, he took off after the two students.

_I won't let you!_ Iruka thought fiercely.

Once Naruto was far enough away, he took cover among a group of trees. He softly laid Hikari down and tried shaking her.

"Hikari. Hikari, c'mon wake up!" he said over and over before, finally, her pale lids moved and she was brought to consciousness.

"N-Naruto?" Hikari whispered, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Where are we?" she asked, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings.

Naruto, who was grinning like a fool at seeing his best friend awake instantly sobered, looking down at the grass beneath him.

"Naruto?" Hikari questioned, confused as to why her friend looked so sad . . . And then it hit her. Trying to find Naruto. Mizuki-sensei's betrayal. Iruka-sensei getting hurt. Naruto. The Nine-Tailed Fox. Everything.

She gasped at the knowledge coming to her but the pain from before wasn't there . . . it's as if something concealed it. Put it under a lock. Could it be her light within her protecting her mind and body from the truth? She didn't know. But it had to wait, right now Naruto needed her more than anything else.

"So . . . you heard it all, right? I'm the fox demon," Naruto said, not sounding like himself at all.

"What? No your not!" Hikari shouted at him, and Naruto looked up at her. Hikari was shocked when she saw that his bright blue eyes had considerably darkened. And honestly, it frightened her. What if she lost her friend to this? To this _demon?_

"But it's true. Iruka-sensei, everyone in the village . . . They've always thought of me as a demon, a freak of nature. And they probably always will . . ." Naruto whispered. _And Hikari is probably scared of me too. After this, she won't have anything to do with me and then I'll be all alone . . ._ A darker part of him thought, plunging him into certain depression.

Suddenly, Naruto felt a sharp pain sear his cheek along with a loud _smack!_ sound.

It took him a few seconds to realize that Hikari had just slapped him!

He looked at her, blue eyes wide.

And then he saw something he never wanted to see. Hikari crying.

"Naruto . . . please . . . don't ever say such things again." She told him, her voice breaking, and Naruto could feel the darkness bearing down on him evaporate into nothing as soon as he saw the condition his friend was in. "You're special, Naruto. You always have been, and always _will_ be. I know the villagers have always thought of us as outcasts, as monsters, and they probably always will . . . But we can change what they think of us, _together._ I know we can, Naruto! Because even though you've got this terrible beast inside you, I know _you_. The real Naruto. And he's brave, funny, a knucklehead, and a good friend—the _best_ friend. He's Naruto Uzumaki of the Village Hidden in the Leaves!" Hikari shouted, and abruptly Naruto tackled her to the ground.

"Hikari . . . thank you." Naruto whispered with utmost earnest that it shocked Hikari.

They both sat up, with tears in Hikari's gray orbs and tears streaming down Naruto's face.

Hikari smiled at him, glad to have the old Naruto back.

Suddenly, both Iruka and Mizuki landed a couple feet away. Naruto and Hikari instantly quietened, hiding themselves behind a big tree.

"Why don't you just give it up, Iruka? You know you can't stop me!" Mizuki said arrogantly while Iruka sat against a tree, exhausted from his wounds and using up chakra before.

"I will do whatever it takes to stop you, Mizuki. Even at the cost of my own life," Iruka vowed.

At that, Naruto clutched the scroll to him tightly.

"Even for those worthless brats? Naruto is the one who wiped out your family!"

"No. He's not." Iruka said, and Naruto looked at his sensei. "And they're not worthless. They are valuable to this village, both ninjas of the Hidden Leaf!"

Hikari and Naruto gasped, both struck with awe and respect for their sensei.

"Well, Iruka, I _was_ gonna save you for later, but I've changed my mind. You're finished!" Mizuki yelled, throwing a giant shuriken star toward him.

"Iruka-sensei!" Hikari shouted, running from their hiding space and running toward the wounded Iruka.

"Hikari!" Naruto shouted before he headed for Mizuki.

Hikari made it to Iruka and summoned her light, but the giant shuriken was moving too fast and it grazed her on the cheek before she managed to deflect it into the sky.

And that was when Naruto unleashed his surprise attack. He kicked Mizuki painfully in the chin, sending him flying back.

"If you EVER touch Hikari again, or take one step toward my sensei—I'll kill you!" Naruto vowed in a serious tone.

"Lucky move, punk." Mizuki said, standing up and rubbing his jaw.

"No! Get out of here right now, you two!" Iruka shouted at them, but he was ignored.

"Well, demon brat! Let's see you try this!"

"Take your best shot, fool. I'll give it back to you a thousand fold!" Naruto said, forming a hand sign and suddenly a giant puff of smoke surrounded everyone.

In its place were a hundred Naruto's, all ready for a beat-down.

"Whoa . . ." Hikari murmured, looking around.

_This is unbelievable! And these are solid clones_, _Naruto has mastered an extremely advanced jutsu!_ Iruka thought, smiling at his pupil.

"What?" Mizuki was shocked beyond belief, dropping his guard as he gazed wildly in fear all around him. How could he make this many?

"If you're not comin' to us, then we're comin' to you." Naruto and his clone spoke before all of them pounced on Mizuki.

Within a few short minutes, Mizuki was bloodied and beaten, lying unconscious while Naruto went over to Iruka and Hikari.

"You guys all right?" he asked.

They both shared a look before smiling at their hero. "We're fine, Naruto." Iruka answered and Naruto gazed over at Hikari, noticing the bloody cut on her cheek.

"It's just a scratch, don't worry." She reassured him.

"Hey, Naruto. Close your eyes, I have something I want to give you." Iruka told him and Naruto did as his sensei said.

Hikari watched with a beaming smile as Iruka removed his own headband and slid Naruto's goggles off before placing the Leaf Village headband on his forehead.

When Naruto opened his eyes, he saw both friends grinning at him. He felt the new replacement on his forehead as dawn beckoned through the canopy of trees.

"Congratulations, Naruto. You graduate!" Iruka said and Hikari cheered.

Naruto bit his lip, feeling so many emotions at the moment before he exploded. "Iruka-sensei!" He then tackled Iruka back down to the ground, hugging him while Iruka groaned in pain.

"Sensei, you all right?" Hikari asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm just fine." Iruka spoke out, smiling at her. "Right after I do this!" Iruka squeezed Naruto's arm, to which Naruto yelped and then Naruto did the same to him. Hikari giggled at the two.

* * *

The Third Hokage smiled into his all-seeing crystal ball, having seen the events take place. He gave up the search party, telling his fellow shinobi that Naruto would return.

But he couldn't be any more happier.

Yes, even more progress was being made with the two. And Sarutobi could only hope that it would continue to grow and blossom as they journeyed through life.

* * *

_**Plz review!:D**_


	7. The Connection

**_Thx so much for reviewing!:D I may have not said it before, but please, no flames. If you don't have something nice or constructive criticism to say, then please... hit the back button without a second thought. ^_^ And if you don't use this common sense, then your flaming reply will be deleted. So there. HA!_**

**__**Hikari: *sighs and shakes head* You're not being very nice.

**Me: **What are you talking about? _They're _the ones not being nice! That's why we call them flamers! Besides, I don't like nasty comments... it just shows how the person really is on the inside.

Hikari: There you go again!

**Me: **I just don't like them _there_, you know? It sticks out like a sore thumb and I just want to get rid of it... *looks around, eyes wide* Hikari! You're making me ramble on and on and the readers don't like that!

Hikari: *giggling to herself* Took ya long enough to figure that out...

**Me: ***sighs* Sorry about that... Anyway, this is actually a record chapter for me because it's over 11,000 words long... Yeah, I have no idea how that happened.

Hikari: **Disclaimer: **Destiny does not own Naruto! Just me, of course.

**Me and Hikari: **HAPPY READING!

* * *

**_Ch. 7: The Connection_**

**The sound of a heartbeat** echoed in a dark room. Hikari opened her eyes, looking around her curiously. The room was hazy-like, in a dream-like world . . . So she was dreaming.

The room was spinning ominously, all in different dark shades that confused Hikari.

Then, came a voice.

"Is there really no one here with me? Am I all alone . . . ?"

The voice belonged to a girl. It was a crisp, fresh voice that spoke out like twinkling windchimes. Yet there was a darker undertone to it, a subtle quietness. But it was the _sadness_ in her voice that caught Hikari's attention. Her words, the emotions lacing her voice, reminded Hikari of herself. Before she met Naruto . . . When _she_ had been all alone.

"I'm here, you're not alone." Hikari spoke in a comforting voice, hoping to shed light unto whoever spoke.

Darkness suddenly enveloped Hikari, until there was nothing but black in her vision.

She screamed before being thrusted out of the dream and coming awake.

She was panting heavily and sweat ran down her face, but more than that, she felt _cold_. The icy coldness of that darkness wrapping around her, suffocating her—it chilled her to the bone. She shook her head, trying to calm her racing heart.

She had to get a hold of herself! Why was she shaking so much?

Once her nerves were calm, she quickly got out of bed and proceeded to get dressed.

Due to Iruka-sensei getting hurt, along with Mizuki's betrayal, the Academy would be closed for three days. Postponing the announcement for new squads for the graduated Genin.

Hikari and Naruto planned on training and catching up with their friends. Since they would be beginning missions as soon as they were put on a squad.

Hikari stopped brushing her hair. _A squad._ What if Naruto and her were put on separate teams? What if she was put on a squad full of people who resented her?

Hikari, for the second time that morning, shook her head. Trying her hardest on dispelling those doubts and bad thoughts from her mind. She knew she shouldn't dwell on them, at least not yet.

So, with a bright smile, she left her home and began running down the streets of the Leaf Village. Her new headband shining in the sunlight on her forehead.

Hikari arrived at Naruto's apartment. She fished the key out from underneath the welcome mat and silently opened the door. Wincing as it squeaked.

It was very dark, so she knew Naruto was still sleeping. She looked over at the clock and it read eleven o' clock. She sighed, Naruto always did sleep-in . . .

She tiptoed over to his bed, trying not to make a sound. Naruto was lightly snoring and was the picture of ease, his face peaceful in sleep.

Hikari smiled, almost deciding to let him keep sleeping. Well, almost. He really did need to get up.

She leaned down, her mouth very close to his ear. "Naruto . . ." she whispered so softly, before suddenly shouting, "WAKE UP, NARUTO!"

Naruto's blue eyes shot open and he jumped so high his head hit the ceiling.

Hikari couldn't help it, she laughed at her friend and he plumped back down on his bed, rubbing his head with a groan.

"Ow, jeez Hikari!" he complained, a huge red bump on his head now.

"Sorry, but you needed to get up." She giggled out, her gray eyes smiling at him.

"What! Why?" he demanded, and Hikari pointed at his alarm clock.

"Eleven o' clock already? I need to get ready!" And Naruto zoomed to find his clothes. "Why didn't you get me up sooner?" he yelled out as he went into the bathroom and Hikari tried cleaning up his messy bedroom.

"Well, I actually kind of slept in myself . . ." she murmured while smoothing his bed covers down and thinking back on her dream . . . the voice . . .

Naruto stuck his head out while brushing his teeth. "Sleeping in? But you never sleep in!" Naruto said, shocked.

"I know, it must have been because of the really weird dream I had." Hikari said, eyes closed.

"A weird dream . . . ?" Naruto asked, quickly going and spitting out his toothpaste before smiling in the mirror. Yep, squeaky clean. He then ran out and joined Hikari, already fully dressed. "So tell me about this dream you had."

Hikari looked up at the ceiling. "Well it was strange, all I could hear was a heartbeat, and I was in a dark room. Everything started spinning and then I heard a voice."

"A voice?" Naruto asked, confused, and Hikari nodded.

"Yeah, but I've never heard of the voice before. It was a girl's voice, and she sounded so alone and afraid . . ." Hikari remembered it so well, even if the rest of the dream was just a big blur. She couldn't forget the voice, it was like it was connected to her, someway . . . .

"Then what happened?"

Hikari shook her head. "I remember telling her not to be afraid, that I was with her, but then I woke up." She didn't know why, but she didn't want to tell Naruto about the darkness in her dream.

Naruto looked down at the floor, and then his stomach grumbled. He grinned cheekily and Hikari giggled.

"We'd better get something to eat." Hikari said while Naruto scratched his head.

"I second that!"

Hikari then noticed the headband Iruka-sensei gave him and picked it up. "Naruto . . ."

Naruto looked at her as she held out his new headband with a smile. He grinned and took it, tying it tightly to his forehead.

"Now let's get something to eat!" he said eagerly.

The two walked down the busy streets of the Leaf, the sound of talking and children laughing could be heard all around. It was the sound that Hikari always loved to hear.

"So where do you want to eat at? I vote Ichiraku's!" Naruto said, which made Hikari wonder why he even asked where to eat since he always chose Ichiraku.

Before Hikari could answer she saw a familiar face in the crowd. The face belonged to one of her closest friends.

"Hinata!" she sang happily, and Hinata turned, hearing her name being called.

She had been looking at a display outside a shop when she heard the familiar voice belonging to Hikari. Once she saw them, she instantly smiled. She had remained great friends with both Hikari and Naruto, as well as the others, though not as much as the two bright ones.

"Hikari! Naruto!" she spoke in her soft voice that came out unbearably sweet. Hinata now wore a cream-colored hooded jacket with a fire symbol on the upper right and left sleeves and fur around around the cuffs and hem, with navy blue pants and ninja sandals. Her hair was still in a short, leveled hime-cut style just above her forehead, with chin-length strands framing her pale face. Her Leaf Village headband was tied loosely around her neck.

"Hi, Hinata!" Hikari greeted her, eyes bright.

"Whatcha doin'?" Naruto asked her as they met in the middle of the street.

"W-well I was actually about to get some lunch . . ."

"Really? Awesome! We are too!" Naruto said, grinning.

"Can we join you, Hinata?" Hikari asked her, to which Hinata nodded.

The three went into a restaurant called Dango's N' More, where they got a small round table to themselves—Naruto grumbling all the while since it wasn't Ichiraku.

Hinata glanced up shyly at Naruto and he looked at her questioningly.

"Y-your forehead protector . . . so you got to graduate too?" she asked him and he smiled.

"Yep! Looks like I won't be left behind!"

The girls smiled at him while the waitress brought them their drinks and special appetizers called Nikudango—which were sort of like meatballs.

After tasting them, Naruto instantly started wolfing them down.

"Wow, these things are _actually_ pretty tasty!" he commented with a mouthful.

"Of course they are, silly. Now calm down before you choke," Hikari told him lightly, amused.

Just as she said that, he instantly started choking. Hikari quickly handed him her glass of water and he chugged it down, washing the dangos down from his throat and relieving him.

"You all right?" Hikari asked him, her and Hinata concerned and he smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, but I accidentally downed all of your water, Hikari . . ."

Hikari sweatdropped before smiling. "That's okay, I can always order more—"

Naruto suddenly shot up, loudly slamming his hand onto the table. "Waiter, we need more water!" he yelled, catching the attention of everyone in the open restaurant.

Hinata blushed while Hikari tried pulling Naruto down.

After that fiasco, their main meal had arrived and while eating Hikari looked at Hinata.

"So what will you be doing after this, Hinata?"

"Hm? Oh, well I have some shopping to do . . ."

"Great!" Hikari smiled at her. "I do too, do you mind if I tag along?"

"U-uh, no, I don't mind . . ." Hinata said, offering a smile and Hikari looked over at Naruto.

"You can come too if you want."

Naruto instantly clammed up. "S-shopping? No thanks . . . I'll just go find something else to do." Naruto knew all to well what shopping with Hikari was like. And if you added another girl, it probably would equal insanity. Hikari _loves_ to shop. And once she got in that spirit, there was no stopping her.

Hikari stared at him before shrugging. "Suit yourself."

After eating and paying, they went back out into the busy street where they bumped into more familiar faces.

"Well, well, it's a small village after all." Came the lazy voice of none other than Shikamaru Nara.

They gazed at their friends and instantly brightened.

"Kiba! Shikamaru! Choji!" Naruto said their names. Shikamaru still looked the same as ever, fairly long jet black hair tied in a spiky ponytail with narrowed brown eyes. His outfit was rather plain, consisting of a green lined mesh T-shirt under a short-sleeved grey jacket with green edges, adorned on both the sleeves and the back was a circle with a line through it, brown pants, and blue sandals. He had his headband on his left arm.

Choji still had his spiky, brown hair, swirl marks on his cheeks, and like the rest of his clan, he has a much more robust physique than most other ninja. He wore brown shorts, a long white scarf, a short-sleeved green jacket over a white shirt with his clan's symbol on it. His legs and forearms were wrapped in bandages. His forehead protector was also worn like a bandanna around his head with tufts of his hair sticking out.

Kiba had messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, pronounced canine teeth, and sharp nails. He also has the distinct red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks. He wore dark greyish pants reaching to his calves and a grey, hooded fur-lined coat, with the hood usually placed on his head. His headband was tied to his forehead.

"Akamaru!" Hikari said as the little white pup came begging at her feet. With bright eyes she picked him up and held him in her arms as he barked happily.

"Hi Hikari, Hinata," Choji spoke while eating potato chips. It was Sour Cream and Onion flavor today.

They both muttered a "Hey" before Kiba started pointing at Naruto, appalled.

"Hey, how do you have a headband?"

"Huh?" Naruto spoke, as if just remembering it was tied on his forehead for all to see. He then got a sly look. "You mean this? Well _I_ earned it!"

They gasped. "No way . . ." Kiba spoke before Shikamaru smiled.

"Well, congratulations."

"Yeah, now we've _all_ graduated!" Choji said, referring to their old group of friends.

Hikari nodded excitingly. "I just wonder if any of us will be on teams with each other."

Kiba then turned to Naruto. "We were just fixin' to go to the training grounds, wanna come?"

Naruto's eyes instantly brightened, thinking to himself that this was a great excuse to not go shopping. "Do I ever!"

"Would you ladies like to come with?" Choji asked Hikari and Hinata.

They shook their heads. "We've got shopping to do." Hikari told him, as much as she really wanted to go, she knew Naruto would have fun without her.

Shikamaru shrugged. "All right then, have fun."

"Y-you too," Hinata told them and they waved them off before both girls headed down the shopping district.

"Okay, so what's the first thing on your list?" Hikari asked as they walked and Hinata pulled out a piece of paper and began looking it over.

"Let's see . . . I-I just have to pick up a few kimonos for father, and then grab some groceries." Hinata said softly, putting the small list away.

Hinata led Hikari into a store that sold different kinds of kimonos, which were usually expensive so Hikari never ventured inside it before.

Hinata went straight to the front desk and asked about the kimonos she was picking up. While the Hyuga heiress did that, Hikari gazed curiously at all of the kimonos.

She rubbed her hands against several, feeling the different textures—some were made in satin cloth while some from wool or cotton. She closed her eyes briefly, imagining what it would feel like to wear one.

Hikari shook her head. It was wrong of her to picture herself in one, knowing she would never be able to afford it.

_Best to get all of these thoughts out of your head, Hikari._ She told herself, but all of the mental berating was thrown out of the window as she gasped.

Her gray eyes found a kimono piece hanging on a rack toward the middle.

She felt her feet unconsciously taking her toward it as she soaked in every detail. It was the same gray color as her eyes, a black kanji for light on the upper right breast plate. Blue flowers and petals lined it from top to bottom, all of them appearing to be falling in disarray as if a wind carried them in the fabric. She wasn't sure what kind of flower it was, it didn't look to be from any around here. Maybe Ino would know?

As she neared it, she rubbed her hand across it. It was as smooth as silk, unbearably soft, yet it was thick, not thin like most silk fabrics.

And she could actually see herself wearing this! It wasn't filled with different colors to blind someone, it was simple and beautiful.

Hikari took a look at the price tag and instantly her mood dampened. Why did it have to be so much? She knew she wouldn't be able to afford this.

_But maybe when I'm assigned missions I can start saving up my money from them and buy it!_ Hikari thought, instantly brightened.

"Hikari, I'm all done." Came Hinata's soft whisper of a voice, carrying a bag with the kimonos in it.

"Okay, I'm coming!" Hikari told her, smiling now, and they both left the store.

Countless hours later, and the two still hadn't made it to the grocery store. Well, they would have if it weren't for Hikari wanting to go into _every_ store possible.

She only bought several things, but she liked to browse the merchandise a _lot._

Hinata was starting to see why Naruto didn't go with them . . . Hikari was a shopaholic, or she would be if she had more money.

"C-come on, Hikari." Hinata said as she dragged her friend out of a weapon store.

"Okay . . ." Hikari said sourly, the weapon store had a lot of cool items, perhaps she could make Naruto go in there with her later. Her eyes then locked on the store Hinata was taking her to and she easily got out of the shy girl's hold. "Time for groceries!"

Hikari excitingly went in while Hinata sighed, and tried to catch up with her exuberant friend.

The two kunoichi's grabbed a basket and started going through Hinata's list while Hikari picked up a few things that she needed and what she thought Naruto might need.

She always had a tendency to look after her best friend. Especially since the day she found the spoiled milk that had been expired for weeks. Hikari mentally shivered at that; from then on she always checks up on his food.

When Hikari found the ramen, she picked up a few bowls for herself and Naruto.

Hinata noticed this and smiled, knowing the knucklehead's love of ramen. "You sure do look after him a lot . . ." she whispered, smiling since she found it sweet at how very close they were-they always encouraged her with how how bright and cheerful they were.

Hikari looked up and returned Hinata's smile. "Yeah, someone has to . . ." She laughed lightly, carrying the ramen and other food with her to the counter.

After they paid, they went back out on the streets. The sky was just starting to turn darker as the evening came in.

"Hinata, I had a lot of fun today," Hikari told her truthfully.

"Th-thanks, I did too . . ." Hinata spoke, happy that she had her friend with her, that she didn't have to be all alone.

Hikari's eyes got brighter as her smile grew. "We should definitely do this again sometime!"

Hinata clammed up at that idea, already having gone through _one_ shopping trip with the girl. Hinata didn't think she could survive another!

Hikari looked confusingly over at her friend but brushed it aside, counting her blessings that she at least got to spend one day with her shy friend.

* * *

The next day, Hikari woke up, having slept dreamless and pleasant. She dressed quickly and headed over to Naruto's.

Naruto made sure this time that he didn't sleep in, or he'd be going today with a deaf ear . . . He was sitting at the table eating breakfast when Hikari knocked and came in.

"Good morning, Naruto!" Hikari told him, smiling.

Naruto turned around in his seat and gave her a grin. "Hey, Hikari! Want some breakfast?"

"Sure," she said, and made herself at home. The two shared the rule of "your home is my home, and vice versa."

"So did you have any other weird dreams last night?" Naruto asked her from across the table.

Hikari shook her head. "Nope, I didn't have any actually . . ." she said, remembering the girl's voice and the darkness. She suddenly remembered something that Hinata had told her yesterday. "Oh yeah, we have to go for our pictures today."

"Huh? What pictures?"

"You know, the ones that will be for our ninja profiles."

"Oh . . ." Naruto said, and began thinking of ways that would make him stand out from all the rest.

"Well, I'm going to go ahead and walk on over there now, it's going to be held at the Hokage's mansion. See ya there!" Hikari told him as she left and Naruto waved at her.

_I know what to use!_ Naruto thought as he hastily went into his room to find the white paint-like make-up.

* * *

"Listen, kid. Are you sure you want me to take your picture like _that?_" The photographer man asked, looking annoyed.

"Just do it! Come on already!" Naruto said with impatience and the photographer grumbled, out of all of the kids today this one was the . . . weirdest.

"Don't blame me later . . . Say cheese!" And with that, Naruto's picture was taken.

Afterwards he went and washed up and headed over to the academy to meet with the Hokage, where Hikari already was.

Sarutobi looked over the image of the boy sitting in front of him. His ninja profile picture was posed to make him look intimidating, with his skin as white as a ghost and red markings adorning the white skin. The only thing similar of the two was the spiky blond hair and same orange suit. Hikari's image was natural and looked effortless, her pixie face smiling into the camera. Sarutobi almost chuckled at that. The poor camera man was probably blinded afterwards.

Naruto laughed. "At first, you know, I didn't know exactly how to do it. It took me like three hours to work it out and stuff, but I finally got it. Like, an art project on my face but only cooler." Naruto said casually, proud of his work while Hikari looked uncertainly at him. She _tried_ talking him out of it but he insisted.

"Take it again."

Those three words busted Naruto's bubble. "No way!"

"We can't accept this photo." Sarutobi told him calmly, as if they were discussing the weather.

"Yeah? Well I'm not doing it again!" Naruto said stubbornly, to which him and the Third had a glaring contest.

"Naruto . . ." Hikari whispered, pulling on his sleeve to try and get him to stop.

Naruto growled. "Transform!" Suddenly there was a puff of white smoke and Naruto was replaced with a tall and gorgeous blond girl with nothing on.

Hikari slapped her face. _Oh Naruto . . ._

"Pretty please, Lord Hokage?" she whispered seductively, and Sarutobi yelped in surprise as he was knocked over with a nose-bleed.

"Lord Hokage!" Hikari shouted, standing up and running over to him.

Naruto was taken aback that it worked and was left speechless.

A little boy peeped into the room through the cracked door. His face set into a frown as he watched them.

Sarutobi sat up with the help of Hikari, calmly rubbing his nose with a handkerchief. "That's the Sexy Jutsu, you say? Very tricky. Much too tricky, don't do it again."

Naruto laughed lightly as the Hokage continued.

"Look at this photo—you can't even tell who it is! This serves as your Ninja ID for your missions and training, which is the key to your future. How is anyone going to identify you when you look like a clown?"

"Well, fine! How am I suppose to know all of this complicated stuff anyway?" Naruto countered with a whine and Hikari sighed at her friend, remembering how she had explained it to him the night before, though he probably wasn't really listening to her since she brought over ramen . . .

Suddenly, the door slid open and in came a running little boy.

"Old man, I challenge you for the title of Hokage!" he yelled in a squeaky voice, heading straight towards Sarutobi with a shuriken in hand. Hikari instantly braced herself, readying her light inside while pulling out a kunai from the holster attached to her right leg.

Only a few steps in, and the little boy tripped and fell flat on his face. He had brown hair that was up in a spiky ponytail with dark eyes that were somewhat narrowed and he wore a helmet on his head. He had on a long blue scarf and a yellow shirt with gray pants.

Sarutobi quickly took notice of Hikari's ready stance, how she was already in the defense for him. It caused him to smile.

"Uh . . ." Naruto mumbled at the little boy's entrance.

The little boy started crying, holding his hurt face.

_My grandson . . . Another headache._ Sarutobi thought to himself.

Hikari dropped out of her stance and returned her kunai to its holster. She grew concerned over the little boy and wondered why he tried to attack the Hokage.

"Thank you for defending me, Hikari." Sarutobi said and the white-haired girl turned around and gave him a smile.

Then, a man appeared in the doorway just as the Hokage's grandson rose up. He wore a dark blue suit with glasses and a hat-like tie on his head with the Leaf Village headband in the front. He was generally a tall, skinny type of guy. He was Ebisu, a personal trainer for elite ninja.

"Ow, something tripped me!" The little boy said, still rubbing his face and looking around.

Ebisu looked around him. "Are you okay honorable grandson? And by the way, there's nothing here for you to trip on, it's pretty flat."

Naruto looked at the little boy. _Who is this shrimp?_

And that's when the little boy and his teacher noticed the blond youth.

The man gasped. _It's that kid! Hm. The Nine-Tailed Fox. Of course, he's the worst kind of trouble maker!_ And then he looked over at the Hokage and gasped again when he saw the white-haired girl standing by him. _And she's here too! The Angel of the Leaf! But why would those two be together . . . ?_

The little boy walked up to Naruto and pointed his finger in his face. "Alright! You're the one who tripped me, aren't you?"

Naruto got frustrated, a red tic mark forming on his head as he stood up, grabbing a handful of the little boy's scarf. "You tripped over your own feet, dork!" Hikari was about to yell at Naruto to put him down but the man beat her to it.

"Hey, you! Take your hands off of him right now! He's the honorable grandson of the honorable Third Hokage!" The man shouted, waving his arm out to Sarutobi who just sat there watching.

"Keep me out of this." Sarutobi muttered in disdain while Hikari looked in shock.

Naruto looked from the Hokage back to the little boy, seeing _some_ resemblance, but not a whole lot.

_That stopped him, like all the rest. Ha! Now that he knows who I am, he won't dare lay a finger on me._ The little boy thought smugly. "What's the matter, huh? I thought you were going to hit me, tough guy! Afraid 'cause the Third Hokage is my grandfather?"

Naruto instantly got ticked. "I don't care if he's your _grandmother!_" He suddenly smacked him in the head. "So believe it!"

"Naruto!" Hikari shouted, running over to him.

"Ow!" The little boy said as he fell. _This guy's . . . different._

The man in charge of the boy instantly started freaking out.

_This is not looking good . . ._ Sarutobi thought, closing his eyes.

"Hey!" Hikari whispered, trying to shake the little boy awake.

"Hmph. Serves him right!" Naruto said, nose in the air and Hikari looked sharply at him.

"Naruto, he's just a little kid." She told him, and then the little boy started waking up.

Hikari looked back at him, smiling. "Oh, you're waking up! Are you all right, little one?" she asked him in a bright voice.

He was immediately dazzled beyond belief when he opened his eyes to Hikari's smiling angelic face.

"So . . . pretty . . ." The little boy could only utter as he had hearts in his eyes. _Just like an angel . . ._

"Come on, Hikari, let's ditch this place." Naruto said, already up and leaving.

Hikari stopped looking at the little boy to look at her friend's retreating figure before finally laying him softly on the floor and catching up to Naruto.

Ebisu gathered his student up and started talking to him. "Listen carefully, _you_ are the honorable grandson of the honorable Third Hokage. You cannot let a riftraft like this draw you into a fight. Even though he deserves it."

The Hokage's grandson was miles away, thinking about the strange boy and girl from before . . . What were their names? Naruto? And . . . Hikari?

"You see, he's far beneath you, you mustn't stoop to his level. As your elite ninja trainer, I am never wrong which means I'm always right. I'm far above the other trainers so heed my every word." He explained, turning slightly and putting a hand on his waist, pushing his dark glasses up his nose. "Your goal is to become the next Hokage and I can teach you the best way to do it. Indeed, due to my great skill I can take you easily to the top, but you must always stay close to me. You understand me? Right, honorable grandson?" Ebisu turned to look back at him to find no one there!

He looked from side to side before shouting dramatically, "Where'd he go now?"

"I think he followed Naruto and Hikari, but I have no idea where they're going." Sarutobi spoke, in the time that Ebisu was talking he had already taken out his pipe and began smoking it.

"He's with Naruto? That's a disaster!" He said before running out of the room and down the hall. "HONORABLE GRANDSON!"

Sarutobi sighed both mentally and physically._ How did he get to be like THAT? My grandson's quite determined, that was his twentieth sneak attack today. And if he starts running around with Naruto, he's sure to get even worse. Let's just hope Hikari rubs off on him, after all, she's tamed the fox._

* * *

Naruto and Hikari were walking down the street, unsure of what they would do next.

"Naruto, I _told_ you putting all of that make-up on your face would probably get you in trouble . . ." Hikari told him and Naruto laughed lightly, hands behind his head, carefree.

"Hey, maybe I'll actually start listening to you one of these days."

Hikari smiled at his cheeky grin and looked up at the blue sky. "Yeah, then I'll know you've grown up." She closed her eyes while Naruto fell dramatically.

"What? C'mon, Hikari! I _have_ grown up!" he shouted and his best friend giggled at him.

Behind them, the honorable grandson followed closely behind them, using poor disguises.

Naruto and Hikari could hear him and peeked behind them and the little boy hid underneath a huge cloth, his feet sticking out of the bottom.

The two genin shared a look before smiling and continuing their walk.

They headed toward Ichiraku to get them a bite to eat. Hikari kept peeking behind them at the little boy who was trying to keep up while still trying to remain secretive about it.

As they neared Ichiraku, Hikari turned around to face the Hokage's grandson.

"Hey, would you like something to eat? We're going over to Ichiraku's if you want to come!"

Konohamaru almost tripped over his scarf as he stopped and looked at the white-haired girl in shock.

_No way! How could she have noticed me?_ he thought incredulously, he was so sure that they hadn't seen him!

"I dunno, Hikari. Are you sure about this?" Naruto questioned, his arms resting lazily behind his spiky head.

She looked at him with a confused expression. "I don't see a problem with it, besides, he's been following us around for a while now." _It's already getting late, so he must be hungry like us._

At that, Konohamaru's stomach grumbled loudly. He covered it up in embarrassment.

Hikari smirked lightly. "See? He's just as hungry as we are." She said, closing her eyes and walking into their regular ramen stand.

The boys followed soon after, sitting on either side of Hikari.

"Naruto! Hikari! How did your pictures go today?" Teuchi asked with a cheerful smile as he started preparing their usual. After years of service from the two kids, the ramen chef knew what they liked best.

"They went great! Well, _almost_ great . . ." Hikari shot a look at her blond friend beside her who grumbled.

"That's just Naruto though, isn't it?" Ayame spoke up as she came out from the back, carrying a pitcher of water with her.

Hikari giggled while Naruto just grumbled even more, crossing his arms and looking away.

Ayame prepared their waters and looked at Naruto as she set a glass down for the young prankster. "Aw, cheer up Naruto." She smiled, and he instantly returned it while reaching for the glass.

After setting one down for Hikari, Ayame looked at Konohamaru who had silently been watching the scene before him.

"And who's this?" she asked.

Hikari and Naruto looked over at them. That's right, they hadn't even got his name yet!

Ayame's face then lit up with recognition. "Wait, aren't you the honorable grandson of Lord Hokage?"

"Hey, you're right . . ." Teuchi muttered as he looked from cooking the noodles to see the small boy.

Konohamaru's anger and annoyance started building up with their words until he finally exploded. "MY NAME IS KONOHAMARU!"

Everyone stared in shock at the boy as he breathed out heavily from his outburst, red face slowly cooling down.

And then he quickly ran out of there. He didn't know where he was going, he just knew his feet were taking him somewhere. He just wanted them to know his name, to not call him by what he's always called by, 'honorable grandson.' He hated it. Hated to not be recognized as a person, as Konohamaru.

It was night out, and he reached a darkened street where there wasn't any people around and he rubbed his tears away.

Suddenly, a trashcan to his side was knocked over and he looked over in slight fright. That was when he realized where he had wandered out to. A dead-end alley where the desperate were.

Thieves, hungry wild animals . . . Anything and everything that would take advantage of a little boy like him, especially given his heritage . . .

Konohamaru physically breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed it was just a stray cat who knocked over the trashcan, it ran away swiftly.

"Dumb cat . . ." Konohamaru muttered to himself before smiling once again and turning around to head out of there.

"Hey, kid."

The voice, and the burly figure right in front of him made his smile disappear and caused him to start trembling.

The man before him was a mountain compared to his small size. He looked very unclean, torn and dirtied clothes and his dark hair was messy and knotted.

"You got anything on ya?" The mountain man asked in a raspy voice.

Konohamaru trembled a few feet away, shaking his head no.

"Aw, well then, that means you're useless to me." The man grinned in a sadistic way that made the little boy's stomach churn uncomfortably, and he began walking toward Konohamaru.

"S-stay away!" Konohamaru meant to sound brave, but his stammering didn't help.

He continued to step away from the burly man until his back hit against a hard wall. No way out.

Konohamaru's trembling got worse until he started to whimper as the man closed in, a dark intent in his cold eyes.

As the man reached for him with his giant hands, a sudden light whisked in front of Konohamaru, lighting up the place. The light was warm to Konohamaru, and it made his fears go away, but to the man it burned his hand as if he just stuck it in a fire. He stumbled back and howled in pain.

"Get away from him!" Naruto barked out loudly, suddenly aiming a strong kick to the man's head.

While the man was recovering from Naruto's kick, Hikari instantly appeared in front of Konohamaru.

Konohamaru's gaze had been transfixed on the bright stream of light when Hikari had appeared in front of him, the light disappearing in her place.

_Where did that light go?_ he questioned in his thoughts as he felt a warm hand against his face.

Shocked out of his daze, he looked up into the concerned gray eyes of Hikari. "I-It's you. What are you doing here?" he asked, but his voice was still a little shaky.

Hikari smiled in a comforting way. "We came to get you."

"For me?" Konohamaru questioned, eyes wide.

The sound of Naruto's battle cry could be heard as he shoved the giant man off of him and Hikari looked over at him.

"Naruto!"

"I got'em," Naruto told her, dodging a blow from the man.

Hikari turned back to Konohamaru and reached out her hand. "Konohamaru, let's go."

Despite the situation they were in, Konohamaru looked up at Hikari with shock. "You said my name."

She nodded, smiling down at him. "That's your name isn't it?"

"Yeah!" he said, his voice rising.

"Okay, then." Hikari said, and Konohamaru took her hand and she led him around Naruto and the giant man.

Hikari could tell he must have been intoxicated, with the stench and hazy look in his eyes.

"Okay, I'm done with going easy on you!" Naruto said as he was nearly hit with the man's fist.

Naruto formed the handsign and shouted, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A puff of white smoke surrounded the alley and then four other Naruto's were present.

Konohamaru's eyes went wide in excitement. "Awesome!"

The man's eyes went wide with fright, was he seeing things?

Before he knew it, the clones pummeled him into the ground and he went unconscious.

Ebisu, above them on a building, had watched the two Genin protect his student.

_So it seems the rumors about them are true. Hikari wielding light and Naruto having taken out Mizuki using a Jonin-level skill . . ._ he thought, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"That was amazing, Naruto!" Konohamaru shouted, in higher spirits than before.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Aw, it was nothin'!"

"And Hikari, you saved me with your light before, thank you!" His eyes suddenly dimmed as he looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry I yelled before."

"Why did you yell?" Naruto asked.

"'Cause it feels like no one even cares who I am. All they see is the honorable grandson of the Third. They don't even know my name . . ." he muttered, and Hikari shared a look with Naruto and they nodded.

"Well, we recognize you." Naruto said with a smile, his demeanor suddenly _very_ understanding.

"Come on, Konohomaru." Hikari said, stretching her hand out for the little boy to take.

"Yeah, the ramen's gettin' cold!" Naruto said from beside him.

Konohamaru's eyes began to sparkle. _Is this what it feels like to be recognized?_

"Alright!" he said with a cheeky grin, eyes closed.

He took Hikari's hand and the three walked back to Ichiraku's.

Meanwhile, Ebisu dropped down beside the man man from before, who lay unconscious.

"Hmph. A lowlife like you shouldn't be wandering the streets." Ebisu said, grabbing him by the back of the shirt to take him to the Leaf Village police.

At seeing the happiness on his student's face, though, he had to smile. He may not like the fox demon, but the boy himself he has yet to get to know, and then there's the Angel of the Leaf . . .

_Thank you, Naruto, Hikari._ The Jonin thought before going on his way with the man in tow.

Naruto, Hikari, and Konohomaru arrived at Ichiraku and saw three bowls of ramen waiting for them.

"There you are! Eat up, it's getting cold." Teuchi told them, smiling.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Naruto said before digging in.

"Thanks, Teuchi." Hikari said before she dug in.

Konohomaru sat there, his mouth starting to water at the appealing smell wafting in the air from his bowl.

"You gave us quite a scare there, Konohomaru." Teuchi suddenly spoke up and Konohomaru looked up, shocked.

"Go on and eat up," Ayame told him sweetly, which made him smile.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" he copied Naruto's words from before.

Hikari smiled from beside him while Naruto seemed to not have heard, eating blissfully away at his now second bowl.

* * *

The next day, Hikari and Naruto decided to train by the river just outside the park. The liked to think of it as their secret training place, since no one else came here.

Naruto threw kunai at Hikari, who blocked them with her light.

"Now, Naruto!" Hikari signaled, she had been wanting to test out her light, to see if it had any weaknesses or limits.

"Right!" Naruto yelled, summoning a few dozen of shadow clones.

They surrounded Hikari, and she brought out more light, a steady stream that surrounded her body. Naruto's shadow clones charged at her, fists and kunai ready.

Hikari only had to focus a little bit, using small amounts of chakra, and the light went right through each clone, causing them to disperse. She's learned that the light, when against opponents, heats up to an unbearable degree upon contact against those Hikari faces. The heat it gives off usually causes them to flinch in pain, or cause shadow clones to completely disappear.

Whereas if it's trying to protect someone, it becomes warm and comforting.

It acts upon Hikari's will. It _is_ her will. If she feels threatened, it's in defensive mode, angry it becomes powerful, scared-comforting.

Hikari watched as it wrapped around one Naruto and squeezed him so tightly it puffed away.

But what _is_ the light? Why does she have it? These were questions that were still left unanswered . . .

"Gotcha!" Naruto's voice broke Hikari out of her thoughts as she looked to see him aiming a kick towards her.

She jumped up to dodge him, the light still around her, moving with her.

But then a Naruto shadow clone was just above her. Before she had time to dodge, he planted a kick that sent her flying back toward the ground.

Hikari crashed into the earth, knocking the breath out of her as dust flew up around her. Naruto really did have a mean kick . . .

When the dust began to clear, Naruto noticed that instead of Hikari lying there, it was a log.

Suddenly he felt something hit him in the back of the head and he fell to the ground. Hikari stood over him, her foot on his head.

Naruto's remaining shadow clones puffed away while he growled. "No fair . . ."

Hikari had been smiling at her win until she heard Naruto. She removed her foot and allowed him to sit up.

"What do you mean 'no fair?' It's perfectly fair! I just used Substitution Jutsu." She told him and he just looked away with a "hmph!"

Hikari smiled at her friend. "Hey, how about I go find us something to eat and report back?"

Naruto looked back at her. "And then we can have Round 2?"

Hikari nodded and Naruto shot up. "Okay then! You go get something to eat and I'll wait here and refreshen my skills. 'Cause this time around I'll win!"

She rolled her eyes. "Sure you will." She smiled playfully.

Naruto took that as a challenge. "Well if you wouldn't use that light, then I would win definitely!" Naruto shouted.

"Not using my light would be like you not using shadow clones." Hikari told him in a reprimanding tone.

They held each other's gazes before they both broke down and started laughing. They just could never do serious arguing without finally laughing about it. That's just how they were.

"I'll be back soon," Hikari told him and Naruto waved her off with a grin.

As soon as she was gone, Naruto sat down and tried to think of a strategy for beating Hikari in the next round. Since learning Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, he's practiced with it a lot, sometimes with Hikari and other times when he trains alone.

The Jutsu has become second nature to him now.

"Wait, maybe next time I should use Substitution Jutsu and then attack her with a shadow clone . . ." _I mean, she used it, why can't I?_

Konohomaru was there, having watched them before and knew it was time to confront him.

He jumped out of the bushes, giving a battle cry and Naruto turned around in surprise.

Konohamaru had pulled out a wood plank and Naruto caugh Konohamaru by the wrist before he could hit him.

"Are you crazy?" Naruto shouted, and he let go of his wrist.

Konohamaru landed in front of him. "So you were able to dodge my move, huh? You're sharp, just what I would expect from you." He said in admiration.

"Konohomaru what are you doing here?" Naruto asked him, slightly annoyed since this was suppose to be a secret place between him and Hikari.

Konohomaru completely ignored the blond and pointed at him. "I'm going to be your apprentice!"

"Say what?" Naruto shouted.

"Show me that jutsu you used before!" Konohamaru's eyes lit up.

"What? Shadow Clone Jutsu?"

Konohamaru shook his head. "No, the other one! The one you got the old man with!"

Naruto had to think back before he finally remembered. "Oh! You mean Sexy Jutsu?"

Konohamaru nodded his head vigorously. "Yeah, that one!"

"Why do you want to see that one?" Naruto asked, confused.

"So I can defeat Grandpa Hokage and become the new one! Please, Boss?" Konohamaru pleaded.

"Huh? Boss?"

"Yeah, you're the Boss! Boss! Boss! Boss!" he chanted, which made Naruto grin and scratch the back of his head.

"Well how can I refuse?"

Together, Naruto and Konohamaru walked the streets of their village.

"So, the first step to learning the Sexy Jutsu is learning how to control your chakra." Naruto began and looked over at the little boy. "Do you know what that is?"

Konohamaru nodded. "Chakra is the elemental life energy that is used to perform jutsu. The Ninja Arts combine physical energy from each cell in the body with mystical energy which is intensified through training and experience. When these two chakra's mix, special hand signs allow the ninja to focus this combined energy for advanced jutsu." He explained, reading from a scroll.

"Know it all! You were just reading that whole thing!" Naruto shouted.

They wandered down the road a little more until Naruto stopped.

"Okay, now it's time to take it to the next level."

"Huh?"

Naruto turned to him. "Believe it! Time to transform and show me what you can do."

"Uh, okay . . . What do I transform into?" Konohamaru asked.

"Just think of a really pretty girl you've seen before and transform into her."

"A pretty girl . . . ?" Konohamaru muttered, he never really thought so much about girls, but now that he was . . .

"Okay, boss!" he said, ready.

"Alright, transform!"

Konohamaru formed the signs and a puff of white smoke surrounded him.

**_Meanwhile . . .  
_**

Hikari arrived back at the training grounds with a smile on her face, carrying a bag with two to-go boxes for her and Naruto.

"Naruto! I'm back—Naruto?" she questioned, looking around, noticing the quietness and emptiness of the place.

Where is he?

"Naruto!" she shouted again, checking the area. She didn't sense him, but . . . where could he have gone?

_Puff!_

Konohamaru performed the Transformation Jutsu, and out came . . . Hikari?

Well, it sort of resembled her . . . white hair, gray eyes, pale skin . . . except this one was a little _too_, well, proportional . . .

Naruto fainted and Konohamaru came out of the jutsu and ran over to his teacher.

"Naruto?" Konohamaru muttered in concern over him.

Naruto suddenly shot up, hitting Konohamaru over the head.

"Ow, ow! What was that for?"

"For transforming into Hikari, dummy!"

"But you said to transform into a pretty girl! Don't you think Hikari's pretty?"

Naruto instantly froze, a light blush coming to his whiskered cheeks. "I-I, that's beside the point!"

Konohamaru caught him and gave a sly look. "You like her, don't you?"

If possible, Naruto's blush intensified though he tried to will it away. Unfortunately, it just got worse.

Konohamaru gave a laugh. "Naruto and Hikari sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G—"

Naruto hit him over the head again, this time a bit harder.

"Ow! Quit hitting me!" Konohamaru complained, rubbing his aching head.

Naruto turned his back. "If you're not going to get serious, then I will no longer teach you."

Konohamaru instantly stood up. "Sorry, Boss. I'll get serious!"

"Then no transforming into Hikari, got it?"

Konohamaru nodded. "Understood. I'll do whatever you say, Boss!"

Naruto nodded, "Then next we need to do some research on female beauty."

They went to a store that sold adult magazines and such, completely forbidden to kids like them.

They silently snuck in while the owner was asleep. Naruto led Konohamaru to a stand filled with women magazines.

He picked one up and flipped to a page of a girl in a bikini. Naruto and Konohamaru started drooling and giggling, their eyes wandering.

The noise woke the owner up and he appeared behind the boys, dangling a whip in his hands.

"This is not a library, Naruto!"

Naruto and Konohamaru let out a "yikes!" before they were forcefully kicked out. (Well, Naruto anyway . . .)

Ebisu appeared above the Hokage monument and looked down into the village, trying to find his student.

_Naruto! What has he done with the honorable grandson?_ he thought angrily. He knew it had to be the fox boy, Konohamaru had been talking non-stop about him.

"What's his evil plan?" he asked out loud. "Where did they go?"

Hikari was wandering around town, looking for her friend.

_It's not like him to just take off like that,_ she thought to herself, slightly worried. What if someone took him?

Naruto and Konohamaru had been practicing in a forest and now sat down for a breather.

"So what's this obsession you have for your grandfather?" Naruto asked him and Konohamaru looked down.

"My grandfather named me Konohamaru, after the ancient name of the village. And besides you guys, no one even knows that . . . That's why I have to become Hokage now so everyone will recognize me!" Konohamaru said, clenching his fists and Naruto looked away in thought, they were so much alike . . . Both striving toward the same goal.

"Get real! You think people are gonna accept a squirt like you?"

"Huh?" Konohamaru looked at him.

"A kid just can't turn into a Hokage after a day or two."

"What?" Konohamaru exclaimed, standing up.

"It's not that simple. You keep saying Hokage, Hokage! To really be a Hokage, you know what you'll have to do?"

"What? What is it?"

Naruto grinned a challenging grin, his blue eyes fierce. "You're gonna have to defeat _me_ in battle!"

Hikari was walking along the forest trail when she saw Ebisu standing there.

_What's he doing here?_ Hikari thought when he suddenly disappeared into the forest.

Hikari decided to follow him, who knows? Maybe he'll lead her straight to Naruto!

Sarutobi stood on top of the Hokage Mansion, looking up at the Hokage Monument.

His thoughts on years and years ago . . .

Not just one, but _two_ memorable nights that would change the village.

It happened just a few days after Naruto's birth and the attack of the Nine-Tailed Fox and its sealing inside the child.

A group of ANBU were called outside the village to a small area where a few families lived.

Some of the people there claimed sightings of a small cave. It seemed that the tremors the Nine-Tails caused forced it out in the open.

But it wasn't just that, inside the cave was a strange type of sealing. One that the Third himself journeyed to see.

Deep in the cave lay two Kanji's side-by-side. Engraved in the rock wall.

Angel, and then Light.

Sarutobi had never seen anything like this. Why put those two words together?

He formed a hand sign and focused his chakra before touching the wall and pushing his chakra inside it.

Suddenly, a voice entered Sarutobi's mind.

_Have you come to awaken the Light?_ The pure voice said to him, and as Sarutobi looked up and saw the woman before him, he knew he was in his subconscious mind.

Before him was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his long life.

Her hair was so white it was blinding. It was so long he didn't see an end, it twisted around her as if it were alive. Her skin was pale, but not as white as her hair, it was parted in the middle. It cascaded down her heart-shaped face and flowed freely all around her, she was shrouded in a sparkling light.

The woman's features were definitely different than any . . . _human._ She looked like something from a fairytale, full of fairies with cute faces, and extreme beauty.

She had the most softest, lightest blue eyes, and she wore a kind expression.

Suddenly, a single white feather floated from above and touched Sarutobi's forehead.

Then it happened. Images and voices of the ancient times went speeding by behind his eyes. He understood everything now, what she was, _who_ she was.

As he looked back into the angel's face, he immediately bowed. He was humbled by her presence, but why show herself to him?

"Raise your head, dear Sarutobi." The woman spoke, her voice was sweet like honey.

Slowly, Sarutobi did so and stood back up, admiring the being before him once again.

She was clad in a long and flowing white dress, an angel of complete white.

"You . . . You know me, you knew I'd come." Sarutobi said it as a statement of fact, for this woman was all-knowing.

"Indeed I do. I foresaw you coming here, which is why I chose you."

"Chose me?" Sarutobi questioned, confused as to why an angel to her degree would need help from him.

She nodded, and her face grew serious. "Listen closely, for what I am to tell you will determine the fate of your world and mine."

And the angel told him a tale, a secret tale that he kept in his heart for years to come.

At the end of her story, she formed a Kanji in front of her using the light as a makeshift pen. It glowed as white wings formed around the woman before they encased her completely.

She took the form of a dove and flew straight through the kanji. Sarutobi noticed the meaning had been "seal" and it went inside the bird as the creature turned into light before melting into his own body.

Throwing him out of his subconscious and back into reality.

"Lord Hokage!" His two ANBU guards shouted frantically as they caught him after he stumbled. The other two ANBU guards were stationed outside at the entrance.

A sudden rumbling alerted Sarutobi and the two with him as they watched the rock wall slowly move away.

It revealed what looked to be a hidden room, and one of the ANBU stepped in cautiously.

They noticed that unlike the rock cave, this room that was hidden was made of a dark crystal formation.

Sarutobi quickly noticed the tiny bed of crystal in the middle and went to it.

"What is it?" One of the ANBU asked, both of them looking inside the bed of crystal.

There was a deep blue fabric layed down where a baby lay upon it. The baby girl had porcelain white skin with pixie features and already a head full of snow white hair.

The ANBU gasped.

"What is an infant doing here?"

The sharp voices awoke the slumbering baby from her peaceful sleep. She began wailing and the shinobi bodyguards didn't know what to do.

But the abnormalness of all this didn't faze Sarutobi, since the angel trusted him with her secrets, he knew just who this child was.

"Hikari." Sarutobi said her name, and as if in response, the baby girl stopped crying.

She opened her eyes to reveal mist gray orbs and they stared up at the old man who said her name.

Immediately she began giggling, her eyes bright as she reached for Sarutobi.

He couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face as he reached his hand out toward her.

Her tiny hands wrapped around one of his fingers and Sarutobi chuckled. Hearing how happy he sounded brought delight to little Hikari.

Sarutobi picked her up and wrapped her in the deep blue fabric that she lay in.

"Hikari . . . Would you like to come to the Leaf, dear one?" Sarutobi asked the baby but she only giggled and began curiously playing with her hair.

He chuckled again. "I guess that's a yes."

"But, Lord Hokage, is it even human? Why was it kept in here, and for how long?" The ANBU man questioned.

Sarutobi held the baby close and looked at his ANBU guards.

"She will be called the Angel of the Leaf. She has been sent to us by a race that was our beginning. Trust in my judgement, she is no threat."

Sarutobi has never went back on his word. He's watched Hikari grow, and watched Naruto as well.

_Oh what strange events have already unfolded, Minato._ He thought while staring at the Fourth's carved face. _First with your son, the bearer of a Tailed Beast. The destructive power would slowly consume if not for light. Hikari came along soon after his birth, the purest child to tame the darkness within him. Someone who will understand him, inside and out. Sometimes I wonder if it was a pure stroke of fate that allowed the girl to awaken at the right time . . . She seems to get along with us humans quite well._

ο ~ ◊ ~ ο

"I found you!" Ebisu said as he landed above Naruto and Konohamaru on a tree branch.

They both turned around at Ebisu's disapproving stare.

"What do you think you're doing with my student, Naruto?" he asked as he landed in front of him.

"Teaching him awesome jutsu unlike you." Naruto told him.

"That's right! Naruto's teaching me to become Hokage, so don't get in my way!" Konohamaru yelled, and Ebisu only smirked and pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Oh, please. Naruto as your teacher? To become Hokage you must be skilled at a thousand jutsu, which I can help you achieve. You don't even know one jutsu—"

"Transform!" Konohamaru abruptly shouted, a puff of white smoke surrounding him.

As the smoke slowly receded, out came a brunette girl . . . with nothing on. "Sexy Jutsu!" she winked.

Ebisu had a flushed face and screamed.

Hikari heard the scream and followed the sound.

Konohamaru came out of the transformation with disappointment. "Hey, he's not defeated . . ."

"What—What was that? That demented Naruto has taught you such monstrosity! I will not stand for it!" Ebisu shouted, completely mortified.

_Uh-oh, what did Naruto do now?_ Hikari thought, having just came into Ebisu's angry rant. Really, it was nothing new to her.

Naruto clutched his fists at the teacher's words. _They all think so little of me, well, I'll show them!_

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Suddenly, dozens of Naruto clones appeared, causing Ebisu to stop what he was doing—trying to drag Konohamaru away.

Ebisu smirked, standing in the center and pushing his glasses up. "Hmph, you think you can take me on with such a jutsu? I'm a jonin, a highly skilled warrior, I will not be made a fool like Mizuki."

"Oh yeah? Well we'll just see about that, Sexy Harem Jutsu!" All the Naruto's shouted before transforming . . . into the revealing blond girl again.

They all surrounded Ebisu, throwing him kisses and leering him with words.

The teacher finally couldn't take any more, and was thrusted ten feet away with a major nose bleed.

Naruto came out of the jutsu with a proud grin and Konohamaru ran up to him, cheering.

Hikari decided to take a look at Ebisu, but found him out cold.

Later, as the sun began to set and Ebisu had been taken care of, Hikari and Naruto found themselves walking by the park.

"You know what Konohamaru told me?" Naruto said to his friend.

"What's that?" she asked.

"That he was no longer my student because we're both rivals. Says he's gonna surpass me and become Hokage."

"And what did you say?"

He grinned. "That one day when we're really strong, we'll have a battle to decide the next Hokage."

Hikari smiled to herself, Naruto gazed at the sky above in thought as seconds passed.

Hikari sighed. "They'll be announcing squads tomorrow."

"What? That's tomorrow?" Naruto shouted, completely forgetting about that and Hikari stopped and looked at him.

"Yeah, I told you!"

"But we still need to train before then!"

"So? Let's train now!" Hikari said and started running toward the forest. She looked back at him with a smile. "Last one there has to buy lunch tomorrow!"

"What? Hang on, Hikari!" Naruto yelled and ran to catch up to her as she giggled.

A fleeting thought came to her though, _What if Naruto and I are separated?_

* * *

__**Plz review! Reviews would make me soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy!:D  
**


	8. Rivaled Hearts

Ugh, so sorry it took me so long to update this! Its just these first few chapters seem a tad boring to write because they're mostly dialogue. The next chapter should be purely original with a few exceptions. Hope everyone likes this, I tried my best! This is honestly where I wanted to put Hikari since the beginning, so sorry if it's over-used, and nobody likes it.

Thx so much for the reviews!:D I normally don't give shout-outs, but I feel like giving one today and everyone always like to be heard, right? So, a big shout-out to **oliverwoodissohot**! Thx so much for being a fan of this!XD And Hikari doesn't have her wings yet, but she will get them later. Oh, and if you've read the companion story to this, _**Beneath the** **Darkness**_, then you might can guess who is the one talking to Hikari.

**I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

_**Ch. 8: Rivaled Hearts**_

**She was dreaming again.** Hikari knew that, if it's hazy and she has trouble moving around, then it's a dream.

The world around her was smoky and unclear, and one thing was for sure . . .

There was darkness all around her.

The light-user shivered, trying to warm herself by rubbing her hands on her arms, causing friction. Albeit _some_ heat came to her, the sense of safety gone within the shadows caused her whole inside to ice over . . . Or that's what it felt like to her.

She just kept walking into the endless abyss of black in front of her. She hoped she would wake up, she didn't know that dreams trapped you like this! Don't you usually wake up right after you realize you're dreaming? Hikari thought so, but it seemed the role of things was having no effect on her.

_**"Who's there?"**_ A sudden voice sounded all around Hikari, and she yelped and jumped in fright. The words echoed around her, as if she were in a dark tunnel . . . Wait, she knew that voice!

It was the voice she heard last time when she dreamed. The girl's voice that was all alone and afraid . . .

"Where are you?" Hikari spoke, hearing her own voice echo. It was kinda weird.

There was silence for a time, and Hikari thought she was all alone in the darkness once again.

_**"Where are you?"**_ The girl's voice asked out, and Hikari stopped walking again.

Didn't Hikari just ask that herself a few moments ago?

"I'm in the Village Hidden in the Leaves," Hikari wondered if it was wise to be telling a random voice in her head the place where she lived. "Where are you?" she asked again, hoping to receive an answer.

The voice was hesitant, before it finally answered. **_"I live in the darkness. Deep underground where there is no light."_**

Hikari halted, in the darkness? No light? Underground? What did all that mean? The girl's voice was absolutely emotionless, as if she were trying to hide what she was truly feeling . . .

"I'm in the darkness now . . ." Hikari muttered, only seeing black. It felt like it was slowly sucking her vision away.

A pause. **_"I can help you."_**

Suddenly, from the darkness emerged a pale hand, but it was only that. Hikari was more than a little hesitant . . .

_**"You can trust me."**_

Hikari looked above her, as if a girl matching the voice talking to her would be up there. She reached a shaky hand out to touch the just-as-pale hand in front of her.

Suddenly, the darkness disappeared from around her and she could see light again.

But then she woke up. Her mist gray eyes staring at the tiled ceiling above her bed.

Was she really awake?

Hikari slowly sat up, rubbing her head full of snow white hair.

_What was that?_ she wondered to herself and fell back down, making her bed bounce and her white hair spread out around her. _It felt so **real.**_

She then shook her head and covered her face with her hands. Trying desperately to get back into the dream . . . but failing miserably. Wait, why did she even want to go back? She had wanted to leave the dream as soon as possible, but . . .

She felt connected to the mysterious girl. She couldn't explain it, not yet at least . . .

Hikari was having trouble coming to terms with what really went on. After all, hearing a voice in her head that didn't belong to you counted as crazy, right? Was Hikari really _that_ different from everyone else?

She sighed, and just decided to get up and ready for the day.

Because today was the day. The day that would change Hikari's way of living from here on out.

* * *

Hikari went over to her best friend's house, deciding to do something that would surely get her mind off of things.

Cooking.

So she set out to the task, rummaging through Naruto's cabinets and fridge-finding the necessary ingredients. She liked to practice and experiment a lot back at her own apartment, so she decided to just go with the basics.

It didn't take long for the small apartment to fill up with aromas of the food. Once, Hikari had burned a few strips of bacon and quickly set out to eliminate the infectious odor.

She went to open Naruto's window in his living room space and breathed in the fresh air, sunlight spilling into the messy apartment.

Naruto mumbled in his sleep, turning over on his back. He kept smelling food, and it was making his mouth water.

He grumbled as he sat up and rubbed at his sleepy eyes. He had on his normal, every day pajamas. They were gray and baggy, he wore a black hat that had eyes and two teeth that stuck out over Naruto's forehead. His spiky blond hair was hidden with it on.

Naruto got up from his cozy bed to open his bedroom door. Light poured in, and the smell of food intensified.

There in the kitchen was his best friend, appearing to be flipping pancakes.

A grin broke out on the blond's face and he went to quickly change.

Hikari was humming to herself as she finished preparing the plates.

"Hey, Hikari! What smells so good?" Naruto asked, sniffing the air like a dog would and then looking over Hikari's shoulder.

Hikari smiled over her shoulder at her friend. "Morning. I was just making a small breakfast for us."

Naruto studied the piles of pancakes, bacon, sausage, and toast. His eyes widened into saucers because there was just so much . . . _food!_

"You call _that_ a small breakfast?" He shouted, but Hikari ignored him and grabbed the two plates.

"We'll need to eat up, since this is a big day and all," she whispered, sitting the plates down in front of their usual seats.

Naruto noticed how her face was down, her long hair hiding it from view. Then it hit him. _Today they're going to announce squads._

"Hey, no matter what happens we'll still be best friends." Naruto said in a serious tone and Hikari looked up at him.

"Promise?" she asked him, and Naruto smiled.

"I promise."

She smiled then, she knew Naruto _always_ kept his promises.

They sat down and started eating and talking. They stayed away from the subject of teams, since Naruto knew that that would only upset Hikari.

"Is it good?" Hikari asked him, looking over at him as he wolfed down the pancakes.

He stopped, and looked at her with his big blue eyes. His mouth stuffed with pancakes.

Hikari giggled at him and he finally swallowed all of the food down.

"Of course! I love your cooking, Hikari!" he exclaimed with a big grin.

"Thanks, I'll come over and cook more often then." She began thinking, maybe she could find a recipe on how to make home-made ramen . . . .

His blue eyes got enormous. "That would be awesome!"

After they cleaned up, they soon set out for the Academy.

* * *

As Naruto and Hikari made their way to the academy, a certain pink-haired kunoichi was on her way too.

_So . . . I'm not a little academy student anymore._ She thought to herself before raising a fist in the air in determination. _I'm Sakura Haruno, kunoichi-in-training. I will become stronger . . ._ A sudden image of her childhood crush came to her then.

Sasuke Uchiha. Even to this day, the love she felt for him was stronger than ever.

_**He will be mine!**_ Sakura's inner psyche shouted. Her inner self was much more outspoken than Sakura herself, she developed it over the years. She never found it odd, just a small faze in growing up.

_I have to become stronger . . . for Sasuke . . ._

Just then, as she walked past the Yamanaka Flower Shop, Ino stepped out.

Ino's blue eyes saw her and they both stopped.

"Good morning, Sakura." Ino greeted, her voice much more mature than when she was a kid. She wore a short purple vest like blouse with a raised collar, a skirt that was cut off on the sides and bandage on her stomach and legs. She also wore purple and white elbow warmers with this, and her headband around her waist as a belt. Her light blond hair was long and tied up into a ponytail with bangs covering the right side of her face. She also wore a pair of small, silver, hoop earrings.

"Good morning, Ino." Sakura greeted her rival and old friend, both having the same smiles on their face's.

Sakura continued walking then, and Ino followed suit; walking alongside her.

They're not exactly 'good friends' now. Not like when they were children.

When Sakura found out Ino's love for the same boy, it all went downhill. They tried to stay friends, they really did, but a rivalry formed between them. Who could impress Sasuke more and win his affections? They had to know.

Naruto and Hikari were already in their homeroom, sitting in their seats in the very back.

Hikari noticed that almost all of their friends were there — she had shared greetings with Hinata and waved at the rest.

She kept wondering if any of them would be on the same team as her . . .

Naruto wasn't worrying about anything. He was grinning the whole while, glad to finally be a Genin. He was officially a ninja now, and he would prove his worth to the world!

"Huh? Hey you two," Came a lazy greeting and the two turned their heads to see the Nara himself.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Hikari greeted with a smile, to which he formed one as well.

"Are you nervous any?" he asked them.

"Maybe a little . . ." Hikari's low reply was drowned out by Naruto's loud outburst.

"I can take anything on, believe it!"

At that moment, Sakura and Ino ran into the room. Both shouted, "I'm first!" Dramatically, and then proceeded to have a debate over who was actually first.

Hikari turned around in her seat and decided to interrupt the bickering rivals.

"Hi, Ino! Hi, Sakura!" She didn't have a clue as to what they were really fighting about. Her guess was it had to be about a boy whose name begins with "Sas" and ends in "uke."

Sakura was the first to stop bickering to address her light-haired friend.

"Oh, hey Hikari. How are you?" she asked her with a smile. She didn't know why, but seeing Hikari always brought out her gentle side — maybe it was because Hikari herself is a gentle person.

"Hey, Hikari!" Ino said sweetly.

Hikari found herself smiling at the two girls. "I'm doing great."

"I'm gonna go sit down. See you guys later," Shikamaru said, and with a small wave he went two rows down to where Choji was.

Sakura's green eyes lit up suddenly, confusing Ino, and then she suddenly walked away.

Sakura went up to the last table on the other side of the room. There sat Sasuke, alone and to himself.

"Good morning, Sasuke." Sakura spoke softly, a hopeful smile on her face. She really hoped she could get him to talk to her today. Sometimes he would, and it was always to her . . . Just her. She figured it was because they were close friends when they were children.

Sasuke had his fingers laced together in front of his face, his chin somewhat resting on them. He remained motionless and impassive, before his onyx eyes looked over at the familiar girl.

"Morning." He greeted her, then slightly pulled out the chair beside him. "You can sit . . . if you want." Then the Uchiha boy stared back at the front.

"Okay, thanks." Sakura still spoke softly, afraid to ruin the moment.

She was just about to sit when she felt someone grab her by the elbow.

"What do you think your doing, forehead?_ I'm_ sitting next to Sasuke!" Ino said, her blue eyes fierce.

"Cut it out, Ino-pig. He wants _me_ to sit next to him!" Sakura spoke in a low and harsh tone toward her rival.

Suddenly, Iruka came in and everyone quietened as they were ordered to take their seats.

Sakura had sat down next to Sasuke quickly, leaving an ill-tempered Ino to walk back to her usual seat.

_**Cha! Score one for Sakura!**_ Inner Sakura announced with a victorious grin.

Iruka had shared a quick smile with Hikari and Naruto before beginning.

"As of today, you are all ninjas. To get here you've faced difficult trials and hardships. But that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now you are Genin, first-level ninja." Iruka then looked down at the pile of papers he was holding.

He sighed. "Normally you are placed in a three-man squad, but this time around we've had an even number of students to graduate."

"Does that happen very often, sensei?" Sakura asked him.

"It does every few years. It's quite common, actually in most shinobi villages. What will happen is that one squad will have four members. Each squad is led by a Jonin, an elite ninja warrior." Iruka explained.

_There can be four people to a squad?_ Hikari thought, not counting the jonin instructor. Hope started swelling inside her.

_But that's only one squad. The odds of being in that squad are slim at best. But still, with an added person you have more fire power._ Sakura thought, and began thinking of who she might be paired with.

"We want each squad to have a balance of strength and abilities, so that's how we set them up." Iruka then held up the papers to his face. "I will now announce the squads!"

Those words made Hikari's heart start pounding. Her previous fears started resurfacing.

She waited to hear her name be called, listening intently as Iruka-sensei called out the squads. She could tell Naruto was starting to get angsty and a little impatient beside her.

"No matter what, we'll stay best friends, Hikari." Naruto muttered to her alone and she looked at him with shock. His words reminding her of his promise earlier.

He was nervous too? Hikari nodded, and her gray eyes returned to the front.

"We've now come to the team that will have four members." This alerted everyone whose name hadn't been called yet.

"Squad 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Hikari Kyoko."

Hikari was stunned. Had she heard right? Her and Naruto . . . were on a squad together?

She almost couldn't believe it; it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Hikari!" She was suddenly tackled into a hug by her rambunctious friend.

She was still in shock to even respond back.

"Did you hear? We get to be in the same team together! Isn't that awesome?" Naruto cheered, a happy grin on his face.

Hikari looked at him with wide eyes before it all clicked.

"Hikari?" Naruto said again, this time in worry as he watched the tears slowly swell in her misty eyes. Why would she be crying?

Hikari rubbed at her eyes, she didn't realize just how emotional she had gotten over this. She formed a beaming smile, closing her eyes before quickly hugging Naruto.

Now she knew she wouldn't be alone . . . She would always have him; Naruto would always be by her side.

Iruka announced the other squads, and Hikari found it rather odd that all of her friends were on teams together.

Squad 8 consisted of Hinata, Kiba, and Shino. Squad 10 had Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino.

Afterwards, they were all dismissed for a lunch break.

Sakura was positively beaming! She and Sasuke were on the same team together! Not only that, but Hikari was on her team too! She didn't care much for Naruto . . . it definitely made Hikari happy though. Probably because they're such good friends, but she had Sasuke all to herself now!

_**Yeah, Ino-pig won't get in the way of true love!**_ Inner Sakura chanted.

She was in the academy yard now, looking for the raven-haired wonder boy.

"Where could he be?" Sakura questioned out loud, she really wanted to have lunch with him — since he didn't object to her sitting beside him in orientation.

Hikari was coming out of the academy when she spotted her pink-haired friend. Naruto had followed Sasuke to who knows where . . .

"Hey, Sakura!" Hikari called out, and the pinkette turned around to see her new teammate.

"Oh, hi Hikari. Where's Naruto?" Sakura said as they met up.

The white-haired kunoichi shrugged. "I think he went after Sasuke . . . you know how boys can be. Since we're in the same group and all, I thought we could have lunch together." Hikari said with a smile, holding up her wrapped lunch.

Sakura found that to be a good idea, especially since Sasuke was no where around . . . "Sure, Hikari. I'd love to!"

_**Elsewhere . . .**_

Naruto had followed Sasuke, silently impressed with his own skill since his rival had yet to pick up on him.

_Now I'll just swoop in and take him by surprise!_ Naruto thought to himself with a mischievous smile. Sasuke was still walking on the dirt path with Naruto stealthy following in the forest.

He crouched down, and realized too late that he had stepped on a branch. Naruto instantly cringed and looked up at Sasuke on the path five feet from him.

Sasuke paused, and Naruto was worried that he had been found out, but then Sasuke started walking away.

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief, mentally cheering, but the Uchiha moved unexpectedly.

A rock sped right by the blond's head before he had time to blink.

"What are you doing . . . loser?" Sasuke questioned in a monotone voice, looking directly at Naruto's form.

There was silence, to which the Uchiha sighed.

"I know you've been tailing me ever since I left the academy, so give it up." Honestly, it didn't impress him.

Naruto had an aggravated look on his face._ Alright then, time for faze two!_

Naruto jumped from the forest to attack Sasuke. Why? To prove he was better, that's why!

Naruto had the surprise advantage, but Sasuke was ready. As Naruto was just about to punch the Uchiha in the face, Sasuke was quick to block the blond's fist. He then nailed him with one of his own.

Suddenly, Naruto poofed away in white smoke!

_What the . . . ? A clone?_ Sasuke sensed his rival behind him and quickly jumped away.

There were now two Naruto's in front of Sasuke.

"Alright, what gives? These clones are solid, not an illusion." Sasuke said.

Both Naruto's laughed to themselves. "It's because their not regular clones. Its Shadow Clones." One Naruto answered with a competitive smile.

Sasuke smirked. "Well bring it on, loser."

Naruto instantly got ticked. "Don't call me that!" And both Naruto's launched themselves at Sasuke.

_**Back with the girls . . .**_

"So what do you think their doing?" Sakura asked, referring to the two boy's of their squad.

Hikari looked up at the sky, it was a cloudless blue today. "Knowing Naruto, he probably went to challenge Sasuke again." Hikari smiled at Sakura, rubbing the back of her head. "He tends to do that a lot."

Sakura laughed lightly, and they both sat down on a stone bench. They began getting their lunches out and started eating.

"You know what I'll miss about the academy the most?" Hikari spoke up suddenly.

Sakura looked at her questioningly. "No, what?" There really wasn't anything she would miss . . .

Hikari gazed at her. "How close we all were growing up. That's where our roots started, you know?" Hikari looked down at the stone sidewalk in thought.

Sakura was lost in thought as well. It was where she first made friends . . . where she first learned of love.

The pinkette smiled. "Your right, Hikari. Now we just have to grow up and learn what life's really about."

The two girls stared in front of them for a moment.

Since Sakura and Ino were branded as rivals, Sakura thought she didn't need friendship . . . That the love she had for Sasuke would be enough.

But she was wrong.

Everybody needed friendship. To have love, you needed friendship as building blocks. Since becoming so infatuated with Sasuke, she neglected friendship. She didn't stay as close to Hikari and the rest like she should have . . . And Hikari had been the first person there for her, even before Ino.

She smiled over at her friend and teammate. "Hikari . . . ?"

"Hm?" Hikari came out of her thoughts to look at Sakura.

"I'm really glad we're teammates."

Hikari then smiled. "Me too."

* * *

"Yo, loser. If we're going to be on a team together, try not to get in the way." Sasuke said, holding a rice bun.

"Right back at ya!" Naruto yelled and then ate from his own rice bun.

The two rivals were sitting against a bank on the same dirt road that they had previously fought on.

Naruto refused to acknowledge that Sasuke had outwitted him, so the two sat there eating their lunch.

Neither said a word until it was time to head back to the academy.

Where they would meet their new jonin teacher.

* * *

"This guy IS late!" Naruto said, very annoyed — all of his patience had officially ran out. He was now pacing the floors of their classroom.

Team 7 was the only group still waiting. Sasuke was sitting down at a desk, his expression cool and waiting. Sakura was leaning against one desk, ready to get started. Hikari stood next to the windows and looked out them. Every now and then she would see a bird pass by.

"Naruto! Just sit down!" Sakura said, annoyed by his pacing.

"I don't want to! How come our teacher is the only one who's late? I'm ready to roll, believe it!" Naruto stopped to stare at his teammates. "The other groups already met _their_ new teachers and took off on some adventure or something. Even Iruka-sensei's gone too!"

"Maybe they forgot . . ." Hikari murmured.

"Doubtful." Sasuke spoke up, his eyes closed.

"Well, whatever it is I'm going to make sure this guy pays for it!" Naruto barked out, and his blue eyes landed on an eraser.

A foxy grin came on his face then as he looked from the eraser and to the door. A plan started forming in his head.

_Uh-oh, I know that look . . ._ Hikari thought, looking at her blond friend.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked as Naruto stood on top of a chair to trap the eraser between the door and wall.

Naruto laughed. "This is what he gets for coming late!" He hopped down, throwing his arms out. "Surprise!"

"You know you shouldn't do that. Your only asking for trouble." Sakura told him, her hands on her hips.

_**Cha! I love stuff like this!**_ Inner Sakura grinned.

"Good luck with talking him out of it . . ." Hikari said, knowing full well how stubborn the prankster was.

"Our teacher's a Jonin, an elite ninja. Do you really think he'd fall for something like that?" Sasuke said from his spot.

Suddenly, a gloved hand appeared at the doorway and each genin looked toward the door.

A man walked in, opening the door and the eraser fell on top of his silver hair with a _thud!_

There was silence, before Naruto broke it with his booming laughter.

"Haha, I got'em! He totally fell for it!" Naruto laughed, pointing at the jonin instructor.

Sakura was blushing, wearing an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, sensei. I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen! _I'd_ never do a thing like that." _**Perfect shot!**_

Hikari just sighed at this._ Nice first impression . . ._

_He actually fell for that cheap trick? Is this guy really a jonin . . . ?_ Sasuke thought to himself, frowning.

Their teacher bent down and picked the offending eraser up. He slowly raised up to stare at the four kids.

He wore the standard Leaf Village shinobi outfit, along with iron plated gloves. His forehead protector covered his left eye, while his right eye was visible. The rest of his face was covered by a mask. His hair was white — but with a silver edge to it, it was tall and spiky.

Hikari had walked up to stand next to Naruto while Sakura stood nearer to Sasuke, who was still sitting down.

"Hm . . . how can I put this?" The shinobi cupped his chin in thought. "My first outlook on you guys . . . You're a bunch of idiots."

Immediately, their faces fell at his bluntness.

First, the guy's late to meet his students, then he calls them idiots for pulling a little prank on him! Well, Naruto decided that he didn't like this guy at all!

* * *

The new Squad 7 met on the roof of a building. Above them was a hanging red sign with "heaven" in black kanji form. Behind them were large trees. They sat on the balcony's steps while Kakashi leaned against the railing in front of them.

"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves?" Kakashi opened the conversation.

"Introduce ourselves? Well, what are we suppose to say?" Sakura asked him.

Sakura was on the end, sitting next to Sasuke, with Hikari and Naruto sitting beside each other on the other end.

Kakashi shrugged. "Things you like, things you hate. Dreams for the future, hobbies . . . Things like that."

"Why don't you tell us stuff first? I mean, before we talk tell us about you so we'll know how it's suppose to work." Naruto said.

Kakashi pointed to himself. "Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake." He hesitated before speaking. "Things I like and things I hate . . . I don't feel like telling you that."

This alarmed them, well minus Sasuke who appeared to not care.

"My dreams for the future . . . ? Never really thought about it. As for my hobbies," He suddenly looked up in thought. "I have lots of hobbies."

Hikari raised a white brow._ He seems to be really secretive about himself . . . I mean, all he told us was his name._

"Okay, your turn. Let's start from the right."

"M-me?" Hikari questioned, shocked that she would have to go first.

"Yes, you." Kakashi told her, trying to offer a smile . . . though you couldn't really tell he was because of the mask.

"Um . . . My name is Hikari Kyoko. Things I like would be my friends, training, and animals. My hobbies include sewing and making clothes, cooking, and training with Naruto." She smiled at this, and noticed Naruto's grin when she mentioned training with him. "Things I hate . . ." Her smile disappeared. What did she hate? Her heart began thumping, and her eyes went wide as if in some unknown reaction. "I . . . I don't hate anything . . ."

Kakashi had been studying her reactions closely. _So, it is true about the Angel of the Leaf, being incapable to feel hate . . . I just wonder if the shinobi world will change that._

Hikari had recovered and went on to the next subject. "My dream for the future is to be strong and . . ." She looked over at Naruto before looking away again. ". . . And to get acceptance from the whole village."

Kakashi nodded at this. It wouldn't be very hard for this girl to achieve that dream. He looked pointedly at the eager blond beside her.

"Believe it! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen at the Ichiraku Noodle Shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them, oh! And definitely training with my best friend Hikari." Naruto paused long enough to smile at the girl beside him. "And my future dreams is: To be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody!"

_Well he's grown up in a very different way . . . I can tell how much an impact Hikari has made . . ._ Kakashi thought to himself before looking at the raven-haired genius.

Sasuke still had his hands laced together in front of his chin. His elbows resting on his knees. "My name . . . Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly _like_ anything."

Sakura's excited face fell while Hikari looked down. Her mental nagging and berating starting up again.

"What I have is not a dream because I _will_ make it a reality." His dark eyes took on a cold, vengeful look. "I'm going to restore my clan . . . And destroy a certain someone."

There was silence after what he spoke, and everyone was looking at the Uchiha.

_Gee, uh . . . I sure hope he doesn't mean me._ Naruto thought, uneasy. Surely he didn't annoy Sasuke that much!

Hikari just continued looking down, trying to ignore the mental jabbing of _'It's all your fault!'_ and doubts of _'Why didn't I say anything before? Maybe someone could have stopped Sasuke's brother . . .'_

"All right, next." Kakashi said, looking at the last one, the pink-haired girl.

"Oh, my name is Sakura Haruno. I like to study and learn new things and I, uh . . ." Her green orbs looked at the brooding Sasuke and her face flushed red. "My dream for the future is . . ." Once again she blushed while looking at Sasuke, who didn't notice. ". . . And to become a great kunoichi!"

"What about the things you hate?" Kakashi inquired.

"Um . . ." Sakura looked up at the sky, thinking. "I hate bullies, most of all. And anyone who would turn their back on their friends."

_Whoa, that's deep . . ._ Naruto thought, surprised by her answer. He always knew she was Sasuke-crazy, though he couldn't understand why.

Hikari, finally coming out of her own thoughts, smiled at Sakura.

"Good. Your each unique and share your own ideals. We'll have our first mission tomorrow." Kakashi told them.

Naruto saluted his new sensei. "So what kind of mission are we gonna have?"

"It's a task that we'll all be doing together."

"What kind of task?" Hikari asked, curious.

"A survival exercise."

"But we already did those in the Academy. That's how we got here. I thought we were suppose to go on real missions now." Sakura said.

"This is not like your previous training."

Hikari was starting to get nervous, and Naruto asked him what kind of training it was.

Kakashi started laughing a chilly laugh that didn't help Hikari's nervousness at all.

"You see, only three squads are actually allowed to pass. The rest will be weeded out and sent back to the Academy. So this is a make-it or break-it, pass-fail test. And the chance that you'll fail is at least 66%."

This shocked the four students into silence, before Naruto started shouting.

"That's crazy! We each worked hard to get here! What was that Graduation Test for, anyway?"

"Oh, that. Well that was just to select possible candidates who might become Genin. That's how it is,_ I_ decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at 5am. And bring your ninja gear." Kakashi told them.

_We've got to pass this, it's the only way to take that step in achieving our dreams._ Hikari thought fiercely.

_I'm not gonna be weeded out! I'm going to pass this, believe it! **BELIEVE IT!**_

_I can't be separated from Sasuke! Now that I'm here on this team, I **won't** let that happen._

Sasuke tightened his joined hands together, determined to pass this.

Kakashi rose up, waving his hand. "Okay, your dismissed. Oh," He turned his head to look at them. "And tomorrow you better skip breakfast or else . . . you'll puke."

* * *

It would be easy for Hikari to get up at that time, she always rose with the sun.

That night, after saying goodbye to Naruto, she decided to go to bed early. She also decided to fix a big meal since she wouldn't be eating anything tomorrow morning.

Comfortable, despite the nervousness she had for tomorrow, she easily fell asleep in her cozy bed.

A dream came to her again, but she didn't hear the girl's voice from before.

Instead, she was surrounded by a greyish mist. In front of her was a mirror.

She saw her reflection in it, and began wondering what was happening.

Suddenly, her reflection disappeared in the mirror, and her eyes widened in surprise. Then white, beautiful wings formed and a small bird flew out of the mirror!

Hikari gasped, moving out of the way. Her gray orbs stayed on the white bird as it flew high into the air, above the mist.

It circled around before coming to land on the ground well away from Hikari.

She took a step toward it, studying it. It was really pretty, she saw a lot of birds, but this one just seemed _other-worldly._ How piercing its dark, beady eyes were . . . The gentleness of its face, and its pure white feathers layering its small body. One thing she noticed were two thin feathers sticking out from the crown of its head. They went back, so they weren't sticking straight up.

Hikari took a tentative step towards it. "Hello, little birdie . . ." she cooed in a soft voice.

The little white bird cocked its head before suddenly moving. It flew up again, and Hikari was mesmerized in the way it moved.

Abruptly, it started flying toward Hikari. She was ready to catch it, thinking it might be afraid in the room they were in.

It missed Hikari's hands and dove toward her heart. Hikari was expecting to catch it then, but what she didn't expect was for it to go _through_ her.

There was a sudden blue and shining energy swirling around where it had entered, almost like a portal . . .

And Hikari felt a strange sensation before she woke up.

In the same shape as last time. And Hikari pulled at her hair. What was_ that?_ Where had the bird gone? How had it gone through her like that? It was impossible!

_Nothing is impossible when you're in a dream,_ she reminded herself.

Hikari sighed, and then got up to get dressed and pack her bag.

After doing all this did she finally realize the time.

She dropped everything. It was 6am! She was an hour late!

Hikari quickly grabbed her things and started for the door.

But a light tapping on her window stopped her.

"What could that be?" she muttered to herself.

She moved the curtains back and her heart stopped.

It was the white bird from her dreams. There, sitting on the ledge outside her window. Its beady black eyes stared into her gray ones as if saying 'come and follow me!'

Before she had a chance to go over and open the window, the bird flew off.

She stared out the window, puzzled. Then she remembered.

"I'm sooo late!" she screamed at herself, running out the door without a second thought.

She really hoped she wouldn't be kicked off the team because of this.

As Hikari ran down the silent street, she figured it would take her at least a half hour to reach the training grounds.

Something white passed swiftly by in front of her and she stopped. Looking up, she saw the white bird from before sitting on a tree branch.

"Hello, what is it that you want from me?" Hikari asked it, her eyes curious despite knowing she was late for her survival mission.

It cocked its head to the side before flying off the branch. It started flying all around Hikari before turning sharply to go into the woods next to her.

Did it want Hikari to follow it? She thought so, and decided it wouldn't hurt anything to do so.

There was no trail, and Hikari jumped from tree branch to tree branch while following the white bird.

Soon, there was an opening and Hikari landed. The white bird was gone, and she looked around for it.

She then noticed that she was actually near the training ground area where they were suppose to meet. This had been a short-cut.

Hikari smiled, knowing the bird had helped her . . . Why, she didn't have a clue.

She realized someone was there, out of the corner of her eye, and she looked over in their direction. Standing all alone, in front of a dark silver stone, was Kakashi-sensei.

_What is he doing here?_ she questioned before recognizing the almost black stone.

Her eyes immediately went downcast. Mourning for whoever her sensei had lost to cause him grief.

"Hikari . . . Why aren't you at the training field yet?" Kakashi spoke, his back still facing toward her. His voice softer than usual.

She looked up, but wasn't shocked that he knew she was standing there. He _was_ a jonin, after all . . . .

"I was just on my way, are you coming?" she asked softly, not daring to interrupt the calm and silent atmosphere that had settled.

"I'll be there soon," he answered, his voice low.

Hikari nodded, though he couldn't see. She was turning to leave when she stopped, looking back at the silver-haired jonin.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yeah . . . ?" He turned his head slightly to let her know he was listening.

She smiled. "Take your time."

This stopped the masked man, and he turned his face to give the girl an eye smile.

"You know, that's the first time I heard that."

Hikari just smiled again, and left for the training grounds.

She basked in the glow of the morning sun. She always enjoyed those first few rays of sunshine.

When Hikari made it to the clearing, she saw her teammates.

Sasuke was standing up, looking bored. Sakura and Naruto were resting against two of the three posts.

Upon her arrival, they all looked up.

"There she is." Sasuke stated, as if he found the answer to all of their problems.

"Hikari!" Naruto jumped up and ran to her.

"Morning. Sorry I'm so late," she spoke with an apologetic smile.

"Glad you're here, this knucklehead wouldn't shut up!" Sakura said, mock-punching him.

Hikari smiled as Sakura went into all of Naruto's ranting. Again, she was glad that she was put on this squad. Now they had to prove that they were a team.

* * *

_**Hikari: Be sure to check out Beneath the Darkness when you get a chance!**_

_**Destiny: And don't forget to review!**_

_**Thanks for reading! Look forward to the next chapter!:D**_


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